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Hit The Bid to miss Royal Ascot

Hit The BidHit The Bid
© Photo Healy Racing

Smart sprinter Hit The Bid will run out of time to be ready for the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot next week.

Darren Bunyan’s stable star, who has performed with great credit at the last two Dubai Carnivals, endured a truncated time in the desert earlier this year after he was found to be suffering from a dust allergy.

While Ascot will come too soon, all the other major five-furlong contests are on his agenda.

Bunyan said: “He’s done extremely well for his break since coming back from Dubai. But he’s not going to be ready for Ascot — we’re not going to rush him.

“You need to be 110 per cent going there, and he wouldn’t be.”

A programme starting in Ireland, followed by York, is being mapped out.

“He’ll start off in the Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh in July before going for the Nunthorpe and then the Flying Five on Champions Weekend,” added Bunyan.

“He’ll take in all them. I’m very happy with him, but his fitness isn’t quite bang on — and if you are anything but your best taking on Blue Point, Battaash, Mabs Cross and the rest you’ve no chance.”

A watching brief is therefore in order for the Kildare trainer next week.

“It’s a very good race this year, so we’ll let them bang heads and we’ll have a fresh horse for the second half of the season,” he said.

“It might not be the worst thing in the world to miss it, given how much rain they’ve had anyway. We know we’ve got to have fast ground to stand a chance.

“Our lad is still an entire. He’s a dual Group Three and a Listed winner, but we’d love to bag a really big one because he’s got a good pedigree himself so he’d make some stallion.”