Prendergast favours Marois option for Awtaad Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Awtaad is set to sidestep an appearance at Glorious Goodwood in favour of a trip to France for a tilt at the Prix Jacques le Marois. Kevin Prendergast's star colt beat Newmarket Guineas winner Galileo Gold to claim Classic glory at the Curragh last month, but could only finish third behind the same opponent in a fantastic renewal of the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot last week. Prendergast feels the testing conditions were against his charge and has praised the ride given to the winner by Frankie Dettori. Prendergast said: "He came home from Ascot well and he couldn't be in better form. "He ran a good race, but the ground was atrocious on the day. He can handle easy to soft ground, but he just couldn't cope with that at all and the way the race was run, Frankie was just in a different league on the day. "You can't make up the sort of ground we had to when the ground is as heavy as that, but he ran well and we move on. "The Jacques le Marois at Deauville on August 14 could be next on the agenda. It's not set in stone, but that's the way we're thinking at the moment. "I would say Goodwood is out. I think we'd just rather wait until August 14 with him." While Awtaad could be stepped up in distance before the end of the season, Prendergast is keen to stick at a mile for the time being. "We're in no rush to step him up in trip at this stage. He's four from six so far and he's never been further than a mile," the trainer added. "We have the option of stepping up to a mile and a quarter in the Irish Champion Stakes later in the year, or we could stick at a mile in the QEII at Ascot. "We'll just see how things go."
