Gold & Ribchester on course for Lockinge Galileo Gold and Ribchester head 12 possibles for Saturday's Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. Last year's 2000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold will be making his seasonal reappearance for Hugo Palmer in a race sponsored by his owner. Ribchester has had an outing at Meydan, finishing third in the Dubai Turf over nine furlongs. He is likely to be joined by stablemate and probable pacemaker Toscanini. While Aidan O'Brien has taken out Minding and Alice Springs, he has left in another classy filly, Somehow, an easy winner on Guineas weekend. Cougar Mountain is another Ballydoyle contender. Martyn Meade's Aclaim steps up in class having won his last three starts at the end of 2016, signing off with a Group Two win. "He came out of that race very well and he's spent a good winter," Meade said. "We're bringing him back slowly and we haven't rushed because the first race we want to go for is the Al Shaqab Lockinge so I didn't want him to peak too quickly, but so far I'm very, very pleased with him." "There's no reason why he can't keep progressing. Once we took him down and got his confidence going and allowed him that time to mature he has just kept on progressing. "If you look at his last race at Newmarket in the Group Two, there was no stopping him. This was a horse who was improving and was on the up - it wasn't a fluke that he won and he won quite convincingly. I think there's more to him and more to come. "He's come back, he's strengthened up. He's taken a bit of time and it took his three-year-old career to really get him going but as a four-year-old he's noticeably strengthened up now. "We're determined to win a Group One somewhere with him. So whatever it takes and wherever we have to go for it, we'll go." David Simcock's Lightning Spear, third to Minding in the QEII, could be joined by stablemate Breton Rock, with Dicton, Dutch Connection, Ennaadd and Mitchum Swagger all still in the mix.
