Adonius poised to skip Ascot with overseas options likely Rebecca Menzies is leaning towards sidestepping Royal Ascot with her unbeaten juvenile Adonius, who has been part-sold to a group of American owners. After winning his first two starts in the space of eight days at Musselburgh, the Soldier’s Call gelding completed his hat-trick with a fantastic front-running victory in the Lily Agnes Stakes at Chester’s May Festival. While the Norfolk Stakes at the Royal meeting is not off the table entirely, Adonius — now owned by Riverdee and West Paces alongside original owner Michael Hughes — could instead make his next start in either Ireland or France in preparation for a likely appearance at Goodwood later in the summer. Alternative Euro Road Map For Unbeaten Juvenile “He’s been 50 per cent sold to a group of American investors to stay in the yard,” Menzies confirmed. “He’ll either go to France for a Listed race (Prix Yacowlef at Deauville, July 4) or go to Ireland for the Tipperary Stakes on the same day and then go to the Molecomb. He will have an entry in the Norfolk, but at the moment the plan is to go for one of those Listed races and then go to Goodwood.” The County Durham-based trainer reports her star youngster to have thrived since his most recent success, with an outing at the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the year a potential a dream target. “He’s done very well since Chester. We gave him a couple of weeks off and he’s in absolutely bouncing form and I don’t think it will be any problem travelling as he’s very professional,” Menzies added. Stateside Ambitions For High-Flying Stable “Eventually, if he continues to progress, hopefully he’ll end up in America at the end of the season and then the plan would be for him to stay over in America, but we’ll have all season with him at Howe Hills, which is great. “At the moment we are at that lovely stage where we are on a high and dreaming and it would be amazing to think he could end up at the Breeders’ Cup. “We’ve made no secret of the fact that we are keen to expand the Flat side of the business and we are seeing an increasing number of quality Flat horses coming into the yard, including two-year-olds, and we’re really looking forward to reinvesting in yearlings in the autumn. “To have a horse like Adonius at this stage of the year is really good for all of us and important with the vision of where we want to be.”
