O'Brien sends Valor in search of first Lennox Stakes Spirit Of Valor bids to provide Aidan O’Brien with a first victory in the Qatar Lennox Stakes at Goodwood on Tuesday. The four-year-old has finished eighth in both the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot and the July Cup at Newmarket on his two most recent starts and steps up to seven furlongs for the first time this season under Ryan Moore. The likely favourite is Roger Teal’s stable star Tip Two Win. Following two lucrative victories in Doha during the winter, the son of Dark Angel belied odds of 50-1 to fill the runner-up spot behind Saxon Warrior in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in May and was far from disgraced when fourth in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot last month. Teal said: “Everything is good. He’s going into the race in great form and we’re looking forward to it. “They’ve had a bit of rain, which will take the sting out of the ground. Hopefully it will dry out a bit but hopefully it should be perfect.” Tip Two Win is the only three-year-old in a 12-strong field on Tuesday and Teal is taking nothing for granted. He added: “It’s not going to be easy for him being the only baby in the race. That’s probably the main reason we decided to run him over seven furlongs rather than taking on older horses over a mile (in Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes). “He’s in good shape and having run well in the Guineas and at Ascot, it would be great if he could have his day in the sunshine.” O’Brien’s representative in the other Group Two on the card, the Qatar Vintage Stakes, is Van Beethoven. The Scat Daddy colt won the Railway Stakes at the Curragh on his penultimate start, but disappointed in the July Stakes at Newmarket last time out. Martyn Meade, trainer of July Stakes victor Advertise, is confident Confiding can make his presence felt in the juvenile heat. The Iffraaj colt made a successful racecourse debut at Newbury last month and the form could hardly have worked out better, with no less than seven horses who finished behind him winning since. Meade said: “I thought he was pretty impressive at Newbury and the form has worked out well. “This is obviously a step up in class for him, but we’ve been very happy with him since Newbury and I don’t see any reason why he won’t go there and give a good account of himself.” Asked how Confiding compares to Advertise, the trainer added: “I would say they’re a bit on a par after their first runs. “They both won impressively at Newbury first time out. This horse will probably be ready to step up to a mile before too long, but we’ll see how he goes over seven furlongs on Tuesday.” Blonde Warrior also has his sights raised after impressive novice victories at Yarmouth and Doncaster in June, with trainer Hugo Palmer comparing him to his 2000 Guineas hero of two years ago Galileo Gold. Palmer said: “We have been very happy with Blonde Warrior since Doncaster. His last two races have been processions really and he hasn’t had to do much more than that. “Ever since I first saw Blonde Warrior, he has reminded me of Galileo Gold. There is obviously more to it than looks, but I think he is an exciting horse for the future as he is still quite immature.”
