Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), a dual Group 1-winning sprinter in the colours of Hughes, Rawlings, and O'Shaughnessy, will shortly begin his fast work in preparation for the G1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Sept. 9.
Trained by Julie Camacho, the 3-year-old is eight-for-seven and claimed both the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the G1 July Cup S. in July.
“Shaquille is in really good form,” said Camacho's husband and assistant Steve Brown. “We purposely gave him a quiet couple of weeks after Newmarket which was always the plan. “He looks well and it has freshened him up. He has regrouped nicely and is back cantering.
“We are very pleased with him. He is a very straightforward horse at home and he will do his first bit of fast work on Saturday. We are all systems go to Haydock and we're looking forward to it.”
Of the colt's autumn plans, Brown added, “I would think the obvious route would be to go to Champions Day [in October]. We've obviously had a little bit of interest in the possibility of going abroad [to the Breeders' Cup] this year, but I think we will be staying at home and probably go to Ascot.
“We'll go a step at a time, but it will have been a long year by then and he's still a 3-year-old and we have to be mindful of that.”
Co-owned by joint-breeder Martin Hughes, Shaquille has generated plenty of attention regarding a future stallion career.
“There has been lots of interest in him,” Brown said. “We have directed that down to Martin. He's waded through it and I think he's keen to do something more towards the end of the year, really.
“He said pretty early on it was something we'd discuss at the end of the year and we should just get on and enjoy the racing for now in the short term. There are lots of scenarios, but he's been wonderful whatever happens.”
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