Irish hopes rest with Curragh maiden winner Hudson River (left)© Photo Healy Racing
Charlie Appleby believes Master Of The Seas can handle the step up from maiden company to Group Two level in the bet365 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.
The Godolphin trainer was not surprised by the way the Dubawi colt performed when making a winning debut at Newmarket three weeks ago, and can see him making his mark on Saturday.
“He has come out of his last race well,” said Appleby.
“Looking at them on paper, they have all either just broken their maidens or won novices, so we felt he wouldn’t look out of place.
“He has definitely come forward for his last run. The form has worked out OK, because the second horse has come out and won. We liked our horse the last day, and the first two pulled well clear.
“It didn’t surprise me on his debut, because he is very straightforward — whereas the other horse we ran in the race that went off favourite (Yibir) is a big, old brute that has ability but is learning on the job. The ground will be no problem at all for Master Of The Seas."
Trainer John Gosden reports Seventh Kingdom has taken a step forward since getting off the mark first time out at Doncaster — and feels it is worth having a go at a good race.
“He has come out of his Doncaster race well and seems in good form at home,” said the Newmarket handler.
“It was on the easy side at Doncaster, so he should handle the ground, but obviously it is a huge jump in class.
“We did think about going for a novice with a penalty, but we thought we would try our luck.”
Andrew Balding has warned he may not run Bright Devil if conditions do not improve, after the Dark Angel colt failed to handle the soft ground in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
After travelling well in the early stages, Bright Devil failed to get in a blow and eventually finished sixth to Battleground.
"Everything depends on the ground for him. If it doesn’t dry up significantly, he is not likely to run,” said the Kingsclere trainer.
"He did it well first time out on quick ground, on the other track here, but it was the ground that beat him at Ascot — so we are concerned about it.
"If it does dry up enough, he is a fair on horse on quicker ground.”
Battleground was entered for this race but taken out at the final declaration stage, with his trainer Aidan O’Brien deciding instead to run Curragh maiden scorer Hudson River instead.
Tom Dascombe saddles dual Haydock victor Devious Company — while King Zain, Miami Joy, Saint Lawrence, Snash and Ventura Tormenta also line up.
