Ghaiyyath Will Bypass King George

G1 Coral-Eclipse S. hero Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) will skip the July 25 G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. and another throwdown with champion Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), and instead target the G1 Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 19, Racing Post reported. Godolphin’s bay turned in a stellar performance to defeat the two-time G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine at Sandown on Sunday.

“Ghaiyyath is having a quiet few days after the Eclipse and we’ll give the King George a miss to give him a bit more time between his races and look towards York,” Appleby told Racing Post. “It was in our thoughts before the start of the year to work back from the Arc again and it will be an interesting race in Paris if Enable turns up, and also there are some nice 3-year-olds coming through the ranks.

“He’s a more mature horse this year, and if he were to win or run well at York then he wouldn’t need a trial as he goes well off a break so we’d just freshen him up for the Arc.”

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Enable Exits Eclipse Defeat Well

John Gosden is looking forward to the rest of the campaign with Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) despite the mare suffering the third defeat of her career on her seasonal bow in Sunday’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown. A third G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe win remains her ultimate target in the autumn and she satisfied her trainer when second to Charlie Appleby’s Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) over a trip short of her optimum. However, Gosden believes Enable could face a tricky task at ParisLongchamp in October should G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas and G1 Investec Oaks winner Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) be in opposition, with the 6-year-old having to concede 7lb to her younger rival.

“She took it well, she had a good blow after the race,” said Gosden. “It’s always a worry when you haven’t run since October and she was coming back as a 6-year-old mare, but I thought her demeanour was wonderful. If you are a stock man and work with animals, you get used to them and I could feel and see that her metabolism had changed as she’s got older. She’s finding it hard to get tight, the race will have helped, but you can’t keep trying to do it at home.”

Looking towards the rest of the season, Gosden told At The Races, “The [July 25G1 ] King George would be the plan. We were lucky the Eclipse was only one day late because of everything, so we’ll look towards the King George, then York [Aug. 20 G1 Yorkshire Oaks] and Paris. I don’t want to over-race her.

“A third Arc would be an extraordinary achievement. This year you’ve got to look at the 3-year-olds. For me there was one outstanding 3-year-old performance in Europe and that was by a certain filly in the Oaks [Love].

“You start taking on a filly like that giving them weight, you’ve got a whole new problem on your hands. I think the Oaks winner would have won the Derby–the only thing that would get in her way was if it turned soft or heavy. She’s the standout 3-year-old.”

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Enable’s owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah, also expressed his satisfaction with the mare’s performance.

He said, “The expectation on her is enormous–we understand that. We’re really pleased with her and she’s come out of the race well. I think we made it pretty clear she would improve for the run. You’re rather damned if you do and damned if you don’t, as if she’d won easily everyone would have said we’d put people away and then if she’s beaten, people say we’re starting to make excuses already.

“I’m sure if Prince Khalid is happy that [King George] is where she’ll be going next, all being well.”

Gosden enjoyed Classic success at the weekend as Mishriff  (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) put up an excellent display to claim the G1 Prix du Jockey Club.

“He was impressive and quickened up very nicely,” said Gosden. “I think we’ll look to keep him against 3-year-olds as 10 furlongs looks his trip for now and there appears to be some decent older ones around, as we saw at Sandown yesterday. The [Aug. 15] Prix Guillaume d’Ornano which is a Group 2 for which Group 1 winners don’t carry a penalty looks suitable.”

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Enable Faces Six In Eclipse Return

Racing’s star mare Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) will make her keenly-anticipated 6-year-old debut against six rivals in Sunday’s G1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown. Her G1 Prince of Wales’s S.-winning stablemate Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) was not declared by John Gosden, but the field is still strong with Godolphin’s impressive G1 Coronation Cup hero Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Ballydoyle’s G1 Juddmonte International winner Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) engaged, with the latter set to carry the colours of his part-owner Masaaki Matsushima. Restricted this year as a 4-year-olds and up race, the 10-furlong contest also features the G1 Nassau S. heroine Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) to add more Japanese interest and the similarly high-class mare Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

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Enable One of Eight in Vintage Coral-Eclipse

Juddmonte’s Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) is set for a stern test on her eagerly-awaited return to the track on Sunday, with Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) one of her key rivals in an eight-strong entry for the G1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown. The dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner is set to reappear for the first time since she lost her 12-race unbeaten sequence when runner-up to Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in pursuit of her hat-trick in Paris last October.

John Gosden’s brilliant mare will be defending her Sandown crown, having begun her campaign last summer with an odds-on victory in the Eclipse. At six, she is due to face a tough challenger in Charlie Appleby’s Ghaiyyath–a year her junior and a dual winner since finishing only 10th of 12 at ParisLongchamp last October. Ghaiyyath made virtually all for emphatic victories in the G3 Dubai Millennium S. at Meydan and then the re-routed G1 Coronation Cup at Newmarket earlier this month. William Buick is set to team up with the Dubawi horse again and he is anticipating a thorough test for his mount.

Buick said, “It is obviously a tough race, but he is a horse I’m looking forward to riding again as he was great at Newmarket last time in the Coronation Cup. It looks like a real highlight, but that is the Eclipse for you. It has been billed as that before and it is a great race. I know it is only a small field, but it is a very select field and there are world champions in there. This could be the race of the season.”

Among Ghaiyyath and Enable’s potential opponents at Sandown are the mare’s stablemate Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), an impressive winner of the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. at Royal Ascot. Adding further intrigue is the Japanese mare Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB), winner of the G1 Nassau S. last season. Aidan O’Brien’s chief hope is last year’s G1 Juddmonte International winner Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who was below-par at Ascot on his reappearance, and he may be joined by stablemate Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Regal Reality (GB) (Intello {Ger}) and Bangkok (Ire) (Australia {GB}) complete the field.

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