There is Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) leading Derby entrants Mr Hampstead (Galileo {Ire}) and Padesha (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). And who's that lobbing along in behind? Potential Dubai World Cup runner Elegant Man (Arrogate) and Qipco Champion S. hero King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) add to what is a star-studded string. 

There are days where you might head to the racecourse and not see one horse as good as any of those mentioned above. But this is just a normal day in the life of Robson Aguiar, leading breeze-up handler, pre-trainer and more recently assistant trainer to Adrian Murray. 

A man of many hats is Aguiar, who is in no way short of ambition. He came to Ireland in 2006 with nothing and, after cutting his teeth at Ballydoyle followed by Tally-Ho Stud, quickly established himself as one of the best judges of equine talent in the business. 

The buying and selling of horses like The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}), Star Of Emaraaty (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}), Summer Sands (GB) (Coach House {Ire}), Queen Jo Jo (GB) (Gregorian {Ire}), Shantisara (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire}) and more got Aguiar's name in lights. It didn't take long for Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing to take stock of those achievements and, in a little over three years working together, the pair has achieved Royal Ascot success with G2 Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) and a breakthrough Group 1 victory with Phoenix S. scorer Bucanero Fuerte. 

The best may yet be come for the operation with Bucanero Fuerte facing a crucial gallop in a fortnight's time to determine whether he goes straight to Newmarket for the 2,000 Guineas or reverts in trip for races like the Commonwealth Cup, while the team is well-stacked in the fillies' department with Ornellaia (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) and Persian Dreamer (Calyx {GB}) firmly on course for the 1,000 Guineas. 

“The money I got for him and then Star Of Emaraaty is the money I used to buy this farm. Those two horses paid for this place,” – Robson Aguiar

Aguiar said, “I brought Bucanero Fuerte away to the Curragh last Sunday. It was only a light canter but he went well and we will bring him back there in about two weeks' time where he will work on the grass. After that, we will make a decision on whether he goes for the 2,000 Guineas or the Commonwealth Cup but I think he will get the mile no problem. That's what I hope. If we think he's a Guineas horse, he will go straight there.

“The favourite City Of Troy (Justify) is a very good horse and will be hard to beat. But, if you look at Bucanero's best form, it is very good as well. He beat genuine Group 1 horses in Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) and Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the Phoenix Stakes. City Of Troy hasn't beaten a Group 1 horse by four lengths but Bucanero has. But I respect City Of Troy a lot. To be honest, he looks like he will be hard to beat.”

On the fillies, Aguiar added, “I think Ornellaia and Persian Dreamer will run in the 1,000 Guineas. The 1,000 Guineas looks a bit more open than the 2,000 Guineas and we are happy with both fillies.”

There are so many lots to be ridden this morning that Aguiar says he's lost count but the number is said to be somewhere between 10 and 14. That's before making a mad dash to Dublin airport in order to catch a flight to England where he will meet up with Joorabchian for dinner before having a sit on some of the youngsters coming through the Amo Racing system in other yards the following day. 

Along with Murray, Aguiar may be overseeing the careers of a galaxy of young stars at his base just outside Mullingar, but there is nothing fancy about how he gets the job done with Dunlop wellies the order of the day.

“When you go to Newmarket, you will find a lot of fancy riding boots, but they cannot ride,” Aguiar jokes about his footwear of choice. “Yes, they have nice boots, but they cannot ride. It's like a soccer player with fancy football boots. They're not the good players.” 

That's not the only football reference throughout the morning with Joorabchian, who first shot to prominence in the sporting pantheon as the agent who looked after Argentinian soccer stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, being said to be sometimes guilty of viewing racing as “one big football game.” 

However, Aguiar is quick to point out that even in football, the amount you spend in the transfer market does not have a direct correlation to getting results on the pitch with big spenders and serial underachievers Paris Saint-Germain put forward as the most glaring example of that.

One thing Aguiar cannot be accused of is spending over the odds. It was the small-money buys that got his business off the ground and, while he does not plan on sending many horses to the breeze-up sales this year, there is no shortage of trade being done at this place with Natalia Lupini, Middleham Park Racing and Nick Bradley buying privately from him in the past couple of weeks alone. 

“I will have a few horses in the Craven Sale and we will see how that goes but I won't have as many for the breeze-ups this year. I am able to get good money for horses on the private market and I have a lot of my own clients that I need to keep happy every year. Some people will ring me looking for a 75-rated filly and I will ask for a 75-rated filly's price and other people will ring asking for a good colt and I will charge what I think the horse is worth. You need to earn people's trust but we've sold a lot of nice horses privately-Kitty Rose (GB) (Invincible Army {Ire}) to Natalia Lupini, Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) to Nick Bradley and Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) to Middleham Park Racing. They've all bought horses off me this year again.”

Back out on the gallops, it's Aguiar in the plate aboard Bucanero Fuerte while his brother-in-law Jose-a dead ringer for David Loughnane-who has the pleasure of steering King Of Steel through his morning paces. Aguiar reports the Group 1 winner to be “very strong” and suggests he will be ready to return to trainer Roger Varian in the coming weeks.

He explained, “King Of Steel looks well. He did very well for us last year and he has come back very strong. He should return to Roger Varian very soon and he can decide what he wants to do with the horse this year.”

Fellow four-year-old Elegant Man, who has been earning his stripes quietly on the all-weather during the winter, could be another older horse to follow this season, according to the 42-year-old.

Aguiar said, “He is entered in the Dubai World Cup but I don't know if he will get in or not. His form is working out well. He was second to Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) at Kempton in December and that horse has won a Group 3 in Qatar since. Elegant Man is still a big baby but I think he could be a very special horse in time. If he doesn't go to Dubai, we might run him in the Devoy Stakes at Naas at the end of March and start his campaign for the year on grass. I think he will handle the grass. If he does, he could end up being a Group 1 horse. Arrogate is dead so, if Elegant Man could win a Group 1 race on the grass, he could be a very interesting stallion prospect. That's the dream.”

It wasn't always this way for Aguiar. He's had to work hard to get to where he is now, working closely with stallion prospects and black-type fillies, but there were times where he doubted if it may happen at all. 

He explained, “I came to Ireland in 2006 with nothing. It was not easy and it took a lot of hard work. I had to go to the sales and buy whatever it was that everybody else didn't want and then try to make a good horse out of what was left over. Now, I go to the sales and buy whatever I think is the best horse at the right money. But before, I could only buy the ones that other people didn't want. 

“The Lir Jet and Star Of Emaraaty, they changed everything for me. I think I would have been f****d without them because I sold them during Covid. There were no sales, barely any racing and I had 25 horses who I had to pay rent for and everything else on top of that. I got The Lir Jet going and sent him to Michael Bell. We got him sold privately before he made his debut but he failed the vet. I said to myself, 'oh my God, this can't be happening.' 

“We entered him at Yarmouth and I asked Silvestre [de Sousa] to ride him for me. I told him to treat the horse like a three-year-old and he did. He broke the track record first time out. Two minutes later, I have about five missed calls from agents trying to buy him because in that year, you had to nominate your horses for the two-year-old races at Royal Ascot. Michael Bell nominated him and he was one of the favorites for the Norfolk Stakes, which he went on and won for Qatar Racing. That was very important for me. The money I got for him and then Star Of Emaraaty is the money I used to buy this farm. Those two horses paid for this place.” 

The one constant in Aguiar's progression has been his close association with Tally-Ho Stud's Roger O'Callaghan. The Brazilian native refers to the O'Callaghans, whose famous farm is less than 10 minutes of a drive away, as being “like family” to him.

He said, “Roger O'Callaghan helped me a lot, I have to be honest about that. At that time, when there was no racing, no nothing, I told him I had no more money left. He told me not to worry about that and to put my head down and get to work. He told me, 'whatever you need, I'll support you.' That was a big help to me, to have someone like Roger in my corner helping me. It gave me a lot of confidence. The O'Callaghans are like family to me and have helped me a lot. 

“I learned a lot at Ballydoyle but Tally-Ho is where I got a lot of confidence to go and practice what I learned. Every day you are learning in this game. Aidan O'Brien was the same. Every year, he would train the horses a different way. He changes every year. He is learning as well as us. As soon as you think you know everything about a horse, you are gone.”

That's the sort of drive that sustains an operation as big as this. The hunger in Aguiar is palpable, borderline inspirational, and you have to take your hat off to a man who has grabbed every opportunity that has ever been presented to him and left nothing but crumbs on the table. 

He said, “I have always been ambitious but the younger generation don't want to work nowadays. They want to sit on their phones all day. When I was younger, we didn't have phones, we had to play outside. Nowadays, all we get is lazy people and soft people. Everybody is getting this and that. We never had time to think about such problems. We had to work to survive. Things come too easy to people now. If you give a person of 14 or 15 years of age a job, you'll get jail.”

What age did you start to work?

“When I could walk! When I was six or seven years old, I was already helping out on the farm. Seriously. My Dad used to milk cows back home in Brazil. At that time, everything was done by hand. You could get 150 litres of milk every day by hand. It was a lot of work. In the evenings, I used to go and separate the calves from the cows with my brother. Even at six or seven, you needed to use your brain because, if you made a mistake, there was trouble.”

Through his association with Amo Racing and now Murray, Aguiar has had a taste of what it is like to dine at the top table. Make no mistake, he's hungry for more. 

“I have a very good relationship with Adrian,” he says. “We trust each other and, at the moment, his strike-rate is very good so I'd like to think I have been able to help him because he came to me a few years ago saying that he was thinking about not renewing his licence but I told him not to panic and to sit tight. I have known Adrian for a long time now. I bought Shes Ranger (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}) for him at the breeze-ups back in 2016 and I rode her to win for him on the Flat at Dundalk. Before that, he didn't even have his Flat licence. Shes Ranger went on to finish third in a Group 3 at Leopardstown before being sold.”

He added, “I think we are only just starting. We need to start selling a few more at the horses-in-training sales and qualifying horses better as well. A lot of horses will go to the horses-in-training sales in July and October. There is no point in us having a horse rated 90. What are you going to do with a 90-rated horse? We want Group 1 colts and black-type fillies. We don't want handicappers. We will have between 50 and 60 two-year-olds in training in Europe and America this year. My big aim is for us to become more competitive in Ireland. You look at the Group races in Ireland and it's Aidan O'Brien, Joseph O'Brien, Donnacha O'Brien and then Paddy Twomey. My ambition is to help Kia and Adrian to take our horses to those big races.”

And what will it mean to them if they achieve that Classic dream?

“One day we will do it,” he says without flinching. “When I first started working with Kia, the main thing he wanted was a winner at Royal Ascot. He also wanted a Breeders' Cup winner and a Group 1 winner. We nearly got all three last year. Now, we want a Classic winner. That's the dream and hopefully one day we can do it.”

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At just 24, Egan has already scaled some of racing's peaks. He won the Saudi Cup, the world's richest race, aboard Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in 2021 and more recently enjoyed great success with trainer Roger Varian, for whom he has partnered Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}}) to St Leger successes in Britain and Ireland. 

Joorabchian said, “I'm very pleased to announce David as our first jockey. We have had a brilliant ongoing relationship over the years and used David consistently on our horses, going back to Mojo Star's brilliant second in the [2021] Derby. We now feel it's the perfect time to consolidate our team and having David on board will be a valuable addition. 

“David is a talented, ambitious jockey with experience at the top of the sport having won races of the highest calibre all over the world, and growing up as Roger Varian's stable jockey has given him invaluable experience and maturity. Aware of the size of our organisation, we must implement systems to ensure longevity and I have tremendous confidence in this decision.”

He added, “Having David on board for the next two years will help us develop long-term stability as a team. I would also like to thank Roger for his tremendous support, confidence and blessing in this decision.” 

Egan was crowned champion apprentice in 2017 and has also ridden as the retained jockey to Prince AA Faisal. He takes over as Amo Racing's new number one rider one a two-year deal from Kevin Stott, who was removed from his post in September just one season after taking over from Rossa Ryan.

Egan commented, “I'm delighted to have signed a two-year contract with Amo Racing. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Roger and Hanako Varian, and all the Varian Stable team. 

“They have been like family to me since I first started in racing, and I'd just like to thank them for their friendship and support over the last seven years.”

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Primarily there's the scintillating prospect of a rematch between the first two home in the Derby, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who between them have picked off the Irish Derby, Irish Champion S., King Edward VII S., and Champion S. since Epsom. 

To that duo we can add the top-rated horse still in training in Europe, Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), whose victories in the Prince of Wales's S. and Juddmonte International have made a significant contribution towards Sheikha Hissa's Shadwell operation being named champion owner in Britain in 2023. 

Then, for France, there's Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who featured in these pages on Tuesday, plus the Japanese Derby winner of 2021, Shahryar (Jpn), another son of Deep Impact who added victory in the Dubai Sheema Classic to his travelling portfolio and has looked picture of poise and contentment these last few mornings during trackwork. 

If he handles the step up to a mile and a half for the first time, the hugely consistent Up To The Mark (Not This Time) shouldn't be overlooked as the best of the home-based challengers either, coming into the race off three straight Grade I wins for Todd Pletcher.

Of these leading contenders, arguably the horse who brings the biggest buzz with him is King Of Steel, who left the United States as a yearling but appears to be enjoying his homecoming of sorts as he strolls and struts about Santa Anita Park in the morning. The man who helped create the buzz on Champions Day, Frankie Dettori, has not been allowed back aboard him yet: that pleasure belongs to Robson Aguiar, who oversaw King Of Steel's early days of pre-training and has been in the saddle the last two mornings since the horse was released from quarantine. 

King Of Steel's trainer Roger Varian and his wife Hanako arrived in California on Tuesday evening and were out at the track early on Wednesday to watch him exercise just 11 days on from his epic mud-spattered victory at Ascot.

Varian, cautious by nature, said that his stable star gave him no reason not to travel to the Breeders' Cup for one last spin this year ahead of a winter break.

“He's really well,” the trainer confirmed. “We'll probably have to wait for the gates to open on Saturday to see for sure, but he's just had the five races this year, nicely spaced out, and he came out of Ascot so well it was hard not to bring him. 

“Obviously you have to listen to the horse but he was giving off very positive signals at home after Ascot and from what I've seen this morning he looks fantastic. He hasn't left an oat since Ascot, he hasn't left an oat since he arrived, he's drinking well and he looks a picture. He looks like he wants to race and it's a long winter so why not have another go?”

Why not indeed. While his Epsom conqueror Auguste Rodin is nestled in among his nine stable-mates out on the track each morning, King Of Steel has been going out solo and is certainly a quieter fellow than Mostahdaf, who left the quarantine barn moments before him on Wednesday and is clearly rehearsing for his future career in the stallion barn. 

Varian said, “He's got a great constitution and he takes it all well. It was his second morning out on the track and he didn't turn a hair.

“It's a good race with some good horses, but it's a $4 million race so it should be a strong contest. These are the races we want to be involved in, and in every run this year he's never run a bad race and he's looked a Group 1 horse. It's fair to say that he's still improving. A return to a mile and a half will suit him and I think a return to better ground will suit him.”

King Of Steel initially had two Breeders' Cup entries, with the Classic having been ruled out last week in favour of the Turf option, which will be a much firmer surface than he encountered at Ascot.

Varian continued, “He probably doesn't have the gate speed to consider the dirt at the moment but he might have the constitution for it, so I wouldn't rule it out one day. 

“He found a way to win at Ascot but I'm not sure he enjoyed the conditions. He never looked that happy from when the gates opened but Frankie was so good on him and left him alone. On a day of racing when pace was favoured throughout he was brave enough to leave the horse alone and let him find his feet and find a way to win. I think he's a better horse on better ground. He's a beautiful-moving horse, very well balanced, and he handled the undulations of Epsom on fast ground on Derby day. He shouldn't mind the ground here and he should improve for going around here.”

King Of Steel's owner Kia Joorabchian had signalled his keenness to bring the horse to California but Varian said that the decision was ultimately left to him.

“Kia wants to be here, yes, there is no hiding that fact,” he said. “But, equally, he was saying that unless I was 100 per cent happy with the horse then we shouldn't come. In a conservative way, I suppose I was looking for a reason not to come. Was he flat? Was there any reason? We could have finished on a high, waited for next year. But the horse has ticked every box since Ascot. We talked about it every day, myself and Kia. We could have easily said 'let's not go'. But he just got better and better through the week.

“We could have waited for next year but this is horse racing and next year doesn't always come. They can stand on a stone, they can get hurt in their stable, they can not be in as good form. But, in my opinion, he looked like he could run again, and that's why we are here. We won't be proven right or wrong until the day.”

Despite the build-up to what was in theory Dettori's final ride in Britain aboard King Of Steel in the Champion S., Varian admits that he was caught off guard by the rousing reception given to horse and rider as they returned to the winner's enclosure.

“Of course I knew it was his last ride but I hadn't prepared myself for what it would be like on the day. Maybe nobody had,” he said. “Who knew it would build into that final crescendo? I was caught out in the paddock. I didn't speak to Frankie. Of course I had spoken to him on the day but in the paddock I was 10 deep behind everyone else. I was just worried that the noise in the paddock would set the horse off. There were camera guys running up alongside him, I was trying to keep people quiet. Really, everything I did was on instinct as it could have unraveled. 

“The horse kept himself under control, the jockey kept himself under control – just about! Thankfully it all ended well and the aftermath was something I will never forget. Nobody will. It was incredible.”

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According to Amo's Kia Joorabchian, the massive grey is likely for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, of which the Champion S. was a “Win and You're In” on QIPCO British Champions Day.

“We've been monitoring him all week, I've spoken to Roger [Varian] almost every day and I went to see him this week,” Joorabchian told Nick Luck's Daily Podcast on Friday.

“To be honest Roger has said the same thing every day, he can't fault him and he's in great shape. He's come out of the race really well.

“Roger would always err on the side of caution, but he's very happy with him so he's going to travel today to Santa Anita so fingers crossed he should be running in, I'd say, most probably the Turf, but we haven't completely ruled anything out yet.”

The Varian trainee caused a stir when a game second in the G1 Derby behind fellow Turf aspirant Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) earlier this year, and he went on to prevail at Royal Ascot in the G2 King Edward VII S. Later in the summer, the colt was third in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. prior to a fourth in the G1 Irish Champion S. in mid-September.

He added, “The reality is, Roger and his team probably feel much more comfortable on the turf, as a 3-year-old I think we would edge towards the Turf. He's never run on dirt and the only factor is if he gets out of the gates a little bit slower he'd get a lot of dirt in his face. That is edging us more towards the Turf.

“The jockey [Frankie Dettori] arrived there yesterday, he sent me a video of himself working out.”

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Stott replaced Rossa Ryan in the role as Amo Racing's number one jockey earlier this year and partnered the breakthrough Group 1 winner for the team when landing the Phoenix S. at the Curragh last month. 

However, Joorabchian did not hold back in an RTE television interview at Leopardstown on Saturday, where he said he felt Stott made a number of mistakes aboard King Of Steel, who could only manage fourth behind Auguste Rodin in the Irish Champion S. Now, less than 48 hours later, the relationship had ended.

Joorabchian told Sun Racing on Monday, “I told Kevin thank you very much. This was a collective decision on and off the racetrack. We have decided not to renew his contract for next season. It was always a one-year contract.”

Stott partnered King Of Steel to win the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, won the Duchess of Cambridge S on Persian Dreamer, and the Craven on Indestructible among plenty of other big-race winners this term.

He had been stable jockey to Kevin Ryan in Hambleton before announcing he was to move south and ride freelance last autumn.

Joorabchian added, “We have done everything that we promised, he [Stott] has done everything he promised and we have parted ways, nothing more than that. I've never had a problem with jockeys. I never fell out with Rossa [Ryan], I love him more than anybody, he rode at Royal Ascot for me.

“He was my only retained jockey, he needed to go out on his own and get experience. I have supported him and he is thriving. But you know, Kevin is not a young boy, he has experience. For reasons outside of racing, I have to decide what's best. I don't know what jockeys we'll use now, I'll leave it to the trainers to pick the best available.”

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Trained by Roger Varian, King Of Steel heads the betting for the Irish Champions Stakes, the showpiece event of the rebranded Irish Champions Festival, and connections of the colt are predicting a bold display. 

“It's a very exciting time of the year and to be going to the Irish Champions Festival with two live contenders in two Group 1s is what we've been striving for over the last 18 months,” said Amo Racing's Tom Pennington.

“It's the culmination of real hard work from everyone involved, we're excited and I know the boss [Kia  Joorabchian] is really looking forward to it.”

Aidan O'Brien's dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is once again on the comeback trail after a below par effort in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot.

It was in that Group 1 contest where King Of Steel performed with credit to finish best of the three-year-olds in third behind the winner Hukum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and connections say that they are optimistic of better again at Leopardstown. 

“We've been looking for an option to drop King Of Steel back to ten furlongs all year, but so far it has just not presented itself and we're very much looking forward to it,” Pennington said.

“There's no such thing as an easy Group 1, but we've been waiting for this race to present itself. The horse is in great form, I saw him at the weekend and he did a routine piece of work and did it very nicely and let's hope he gets there in one piece now.”

Along with Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, the 13 remaining in Saturday's contest feature Nashwa, Onesta and the supplemented Alflaila.

Bucanero Fuerte provided the Amo operation with a breakthrough Group 1 in the Phoenix S. at the Curragh last month and the Adrian Murray-trained colt is reported to be in top shape ahead of Sunday's National S. at the Curragh. 

Pennington said, “He has always been a strong stayer at six furlongs and looks as if he's been crying out for seven. His last furlong has been his best in his last couple of races.

“At the beginning of the season he was a big frame of a horse with an engine, now he is really maturing into the horse we hoped he would.”

If Bucanero Fuerte is to add another big-race victory he will have to lower the colours of Aidan O'Brien's City Of Troy (Justify), who is currently odds-on at the head of the betting.

City Of Troy made it two from two in the Superlative S. at Newmarket–and connections of Bucanero Fuerte are under no illusion they have a huge task on their hands.

“Bucanero Fuerte does like to get his toe in, but we wouldn't be overly concerned stepping up to seven–the one concern we do have is obviously City Of Troy,” added Pennington.

“You can't be frightened of one horse, but what he did at Newmarket, to the eye, was visually impressive. We know he will take a lot of beating, but we think we're going there with a live chance.”

The post King Of Steel Heads 13 Still Standing For Irish Champion Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“We didn't confirm him today for York,” said Tom Pennington, racing manager for owners, Amo Racing. “I know when you look at the prize-money and think it could be quite a small field, you might get a bit carried away, but we are going back to what was always Plan A and go to Ireland.

“We've been patient with him all the way along and I don't think another couple of weeks is going to do us any harm. He's in good form and he's on the right track, we're very happy with him.

“When you look at his size, touch wood, he should be even better again next year and we're playing the long game with him.”

The G2 King Edward VII S. hero, who is trained by Roger Varian, was due to face four-time Group 1 winner Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), G1 Prince Of Wales's S. hero Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), and 2022 G1 Derby victor Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) among others in the York showpiece.

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Watch Hip 77 c. QUALITY ROAD o/o I'm a Looker sell for $1,100,000 at The Saratoga Sale!#FasigSaratoga @Gainesway @StonestreetFarm @amoracingltd @A_C_Elliott @mcelroyequine pic.twitter.com/xo3GvKnD06

— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) August 8, 2023

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“She's great and we're very happy with her and we're now looking forward to having a crack at a Group 1 with her,” the trainer said. “She appreciates a bit of cut in the ground and when she does get it, her returns from her races are much better.”

After breaking her maiden on debut in April, the daughter of Surprisingly (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was fourth in the Listed Marygate Fillies' S. and the G3 Albany S. She won the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. by 1 3/4 lengths last Friday.

He added, “I'm not ruling out staying at six furlongs and she's got plenty of speed and I think six or seven for now will be the plan and we will leave going a mile to next year.

“Obviously she has a liking for Newmarket, so you would like to think the Cheveley Park might be the end-of-season target [on Sept. 30]. But she also has an entry in the [G1] Moyglare [S.] at the Curragh [on Sept. 10] and the world is her oyster really. It might just be a case of choosing somewhere where the ground is right.”

Of a Breeders' Cup bid, the trainer added, “I don't think she would be the right sort of filly to take to America. Kia is keen on America and if we had the right article he would be very keen to go. But I think she is unlikely to get her ground out there at that time of year. It wouldn't be her cup of tea.”

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The Karl Burke-trained colt could only manage 10th behind Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Guineas, where the testing ground is reported to have been against Amo Racing's runner. 

Spokesman for the operation, Tom Pennington said, “He's come out of the Guineas very well. The ground probably didn't play to his strengths at Newmarket. We've always said he is not a soft ground horse and it was decent ground when he won the Craven.

“He's in decent form and is working well, Karl is happy with him, and it is all systems go for the St James's Palace at Royal Ascot.”

He added. “Quick ground round a bend should see him at his best, he's a nice horse and you don't do what he did in the Craven without being a nice horse. I think getting on better ground will see him replicate what he did at Newmarket in the Craven.

“You can't knock his form and his only disappointing run before the Guineas was when he was second to Chaldean at Doncaster last season. The ground was hock deep that day as well and he's just not as effective on that sort of ground. He's much better on a sound surface.”

Indestructible is as big as 40-1 in places for the St James's Palace. The market revolves around Guineas winner Chaldean, a 6-4 favourite, while Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) is next best at 3-1.

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