Vintage Crop Stakes preview Dermot Weld is "delighted" with Forgotten Rules ahead of his return to action in Sunday's Coolmore Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan. In just three lifetime appearances the five-year-old has created a big impression. He won a Punchestown bumper by 13 lengths, switched to the Flat to win at Galway by eight lengths and then stepped up massively in class for the Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Champions Day, which he also won comfortably. Having to carry a penalty for that success makes life tougher, but Weld is confident the Ascot Gold Cup favourite is fit enough to do himself justice. "We're very happy with him. Hopefully with a few more showers he'll get his ground and he should run a very good race," the trainer told At The Races. "I'm delighted with him, he's done very well. He's still a big, immature horse, but he's improving all the time. He has it all to do (with a penalty), but it's the ideal race to start off in." Second to Forgotten Rules at Ascot was David Lanigan's Biographer and he meets him on 5lb better terms for a length and three-quarters. The handler said: "He's done well over the winter and this is a nice race to start him off. "As far as the Gold Cup is concerned, he's like Marco Botti's horse (Tac De Boistron). Though he doesn't need it to be soft, he wants it to be a little easier than good ground and that's in the lap of the gods. "If the ground is right, he'd go to Ascot and I don't think the trip (two and a half miles) would be a problem at all. He's a lazy horse in his races and gives himself every chance to stay." Andy Oliver worked wonders with Panama Hat last season, winning five in a row and seeing his rating rise from 60 to 110. The trainer said: "We're trying to plan a campaign. This is his first run and we'll take it from there. He may need the run. We're running out of options, so we are going to have to run somewhere. "He's done very well and we're looking forward to him. Obviously he had a rapid rise last year. We're into a different level now and we have to compete at that level, but he's showing us the right signs." Jim Bolger runs Answered, an easy winner of the Martin Moloney Stakes on his return at Limerick "He's continued doing what he's been doing all spring. Hopefully he will have moved up a bit," said Bolger. Aidan O'Brien runs Kingfisher, primarily used last year as a pacemaker for Australia.
