Gethin gets chance to derail Constitution Hill and further Arc claims Most eyes may be focussed on Constitution Hill in the William Hill September Stakes, but Owen Burrows’ Gethin will be out to spoil the party, as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomph entrant puts Parisian dreams to the test at Kempton. A course winner at Kempton in the Magnolia Stakes earlier this season, he gave Ombudsman a fright in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes in his first outing in the silks of Wathnan Racing before returning to Sandown to contest the Coral-Eclipse in early July. Freshened up with this the target since, the son of Ghaiyyath is primed to grab all the attention from his famous hurdling rival in a race where he is reunited with Callum Rodriguez. Group Assignment For Wathnan Flagbearer “I’m not saying he’s an Arc horse, but there were a lot of things that went wrong in the Eclipse and at least here we can see him on a surface that we know he acts on,” said Richard Brown, racing adviser for the owners. “Owen has been very happy with him and he’s had a good freshen up since the Eclipse. This has been his target since then and he has had two months off, so we’re looking forward to seeing him again. “We picked this out at the time because we were in the middle of a major drought and we wanted to give Owen a target he could train for and if we were still in a drought it was a race where we wouldn’t have to worry about ground. “James (Doyle) is at Haydock for the Sprint Cup so Callum will get himself reacquainted with him and he was an important part of Gethin’s development before we bought him. We’ve got a good association with Callum. “It’s an intriguing race and Constitution Hill in there makes it fascinating. But there are also some other top horses in there like Pride Of Arras, Warrant Holder and Tornado Alert, who is a Group One winner, and it’s a very strong Group Three. Any one of them could win it.” Saeed Bin Suroor Prepares Strong Dual Attack Gethin heads most betting lists, with Saeed bin Suroor’s Group One winner Tornado Alert also towards the top of the market as he builds towards high-ranking autumn targets following a pleasing return in the Grosser Preis von Berlin. Bin Suroor said: “Tornado Alert ran well in Germany which was his first race since last year. He ran well over a mile and a half but was needing the race. “He ran well on the all-weather at Newcastle at the beginning of his career and handled it well so let’s hope he handles it well at Kempton, too. “Oisin Murphy rode him in his last piece of work and was really happy with him. After this we might take him back to Germany and then further on maybe to the Champion Stakes at Ascot before maybe going abroad to Bahrain when the season is finished over here.” Godolphin Veteran Prepares For Flat Convert Clash Stablemate Dubai Future was a place ahead of Tornado Alert at Hoppegarten in a race won by Sir Mark Prescott’s Tiffany last month and is also in the mix for a race Bin Suroor is eagerly anticipating due to the participation of a certain Flat convert. “Both of them have been working well and are in great form,” he continued. “Dubai Future is like a three-year-old and always tries hard, he’s a very tough horse. He was a Group Three winner at Sandown and ran well in the Group One in Germany last time. “This is going to be an interesting race and a lot of people are going to watch this race. “Constitution Hill is a famous horse. He has done well in his Flat races and I have a lot of respect for him. I’m looking forward to it.” Redemption Bid For Unlucky Dante Winner For Pride Of Arras, it was a question of what could have been having been withdrawn at the start of the Juddmonte International then watching Item — the horse he finished second to on his previous outing — gallop to Group One glory. Ralph Beckett’s charge now moves back up to a mile and a half, with big international targets looming later in the year. Patrick Cooper, racing manager to owners David and Vimy Aykroyd, said: “It was very unlucky what happened at York and that’s why we are here. He was grand afterwards and the rules are the rules but it’s a strange one. “It would have been great to have been in the Juddmonte with Item winning and seen what might have happened, but he’s as well as he was before York so we’ll have a rattle at this and see what happens. “I don’t think it matters whether it’s a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half and he’s equally at home over either and we still don’t know which one he’s better over! “Hopefully after this we can look at races like the Canadian International and Hong Kong. We’re slightly on the back foot and we thought we might be further along the road than we are, so we’re still catching up a little.” Field Completed By High-Class Strikers Like Constitution Hill, John and Thady Gosden’s Warrant Holder diverts to this Kempton event having been scheduled to take part in last weekend’s Autumn Stakes at Windsor. Completing the field of seven is Almeric, with Andrew Balding hoping to see a sharper start from the otherwise consistent operator. Balding said: “He was a bit disappointing last time in Germany, but he’s not been starting well so we’ve done a bit of work on his starting procedure and hopefully if he can break better he can be more competitive. “He’s got some very good form in the book and still has plenty of ability, so I hope if he can break on terms he could get involved.”
