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Posts Tagged ‘Arc’

Brilliant King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Harbinger is poised to drop back in trip for a crack at the Juddmonte International at York next month.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt is officially rated the best in the world after his 11-length demolition of Cape Blanco at Ascot last weekend.

While the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October remains the big objective for the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing-owned four-year-old, connections feel a run in the interim will be to his benefit.

Highclere manager Harry Herbert told www.highclereracing.co.uk: “The horse looks really well and Sir Michael reports that he has now put back all of the weight he lost during the race.

“He feels it is too long a gap between now and the Arc for Harbinger not to have another race and with this in mind, we are seriously considering running him in the Juddmonte International on August 17.”

Behkabad is likely to be campaigned with a tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in mind following his triumph in the Grand Prix de Paris.

Having finished fourth in the Prix du Jockey Club on his penultimate start, Jean-Claude Rouget’s colt showed further progress to land Wednesday’s Group One in rain-softened ground.

Georges Rimaud, racing manager for owner the Aga Khan, said: “It was a good performance and very enjoyable to watch. The horse is fine and the normal route for a horse like him now would be to go for an Arc trial, possibly the Prix Niel, and then the Arc itself.”

He added: “But there is still a long way to go so we will see how it goes along the way. I don’t think the ground matters to him too much. I don’t think he would like it if the ground was very heavy, but that is the case with most horses.”