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Posts Tagged ‘Godolphin’

Richard Hughes will adopt his customary waiting tactics on Dick Turpin in Tuesday’s Juddmonte International Stakes at York.

Richard Hannon’s consistent three-year-old was supplemented for the prestigious 10-furlong Group One contest on Wednesday, with owner John Manley forced to fork out £50,000 for the pleasure of seeing him attempt the trip for the first time.

However, after victory over a mile in the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly, connections have high hopes of stretching his stamina.

“They asked me for my opinion. It’s a very brave decision by John and it’s a credit to him, it’s really made it a proper Group One,” said Hughes.

“We were thinking of running him over 10 furlongs in a Group Two in France on Sunday with a 7lb penalty but my reasoning was if you are not going to stay 10 furlongs, you may as well do it against the big boys.

“John was very happy to supplement. He asked me if he’d stay and I said I think he will, but I couldn’t put my hand on my heart and say he’ll definitely stay and also ‘it’s not my money, it’s yours’.

“John was quite happy to make the decision on his own behalf with the advice that we’ve given him. I’ll ride him to get the trip and if he has a turn of foot over a mile-and-two, he’s going to be a serious horse.”

Godolphin have two chances with Cutlass Bay and Cavalryman, with the latter also having the option of the Prix Gontaut-Biron at Deauville on Saturday.

“It is possible that Cavalryman could run in the Juddmonte International Stakes. He is in good form,” said Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford.

“He pulled a muscle at Royal Ascot and didn’t run any type of race there, but prior to that at Epsom he ran well. Hopefully he will come back and have a good second half of the season.”

Royal Ascot heroine Hibaayeb is reported to be in the form of her life as she bids to give the Godolphin team their first taste of success in the Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh on Sunday.

The daughter of Singspiel was an impressive winner of the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot and Saeed bin Suroor has been thrilled with her subsequent progress, though he does not want conditions at the Curragh to become too testing.

“She ran a huge race last time and came out of the race really well. Her condition is very good and she looks better than ever at the moment,” said bin Suroor.

“It’s a very tough race, but the filly is really happy and working very well. Good ground would be fine for her, so I hope it is not too soft.”

The Godolphin team are double-handed in the race, with the Mahmood Al Zarooni-trained Miss Jean Brodie taking a big jump in class following success in a Doncaster maiden.

Sir Michael Stoute’s Eldalil chased Hibaayeb home at Royal Ascot and Angus Gold, racing manager for owner Hamdan Al Maktoum, is hopeful of further improvement.

He said: “We hope she has improved since Ascot and she will need to as she is jumping up a grade. They say the ground is going to be good or possibly a little bit easier and I just hope it doesn’t go too soft.

“She’s taking on the top mile-and-a-half fillies around so I can’t say she’ll win it, but I thought if she’d broken better at Ascot, then she’d have finished an awful lot closer to the winner.

“She proved that day that she stayed the trip, so hopefully she’ll run a decent race on Sunday.”