Cercene to be aimed at Nassau Stakes at Goodwood

With connections having decided to bypass this weekends Irish Oaks, recent Royal Ascot winner Cercene will make her next start in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

The daughter of Australia gave both trainer Joe Murphy and jockey Gary Carroll their first Group 1 wins, when landing the Coronation Stakes last month.

While a bid for Classic success in the Irish Oaks had been on the cards, in the finish Murphy opted to miss that engagement in favour of a run at Goodwood.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said: "Cercene is doing work this morning and we'll take it from there, but we're aiming her at the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

"We thought the gap from a mile up to 1m4f was too far to go for the Irish Oaks and while we're taking on the older horses in the Nassau (over 1m2f), we feel we'll learn if she could potentially stay 1m4f."

Murphy added: "Vorfreude is in the 1m4f handicap at Galway but we're not too sure about it yet as we're not in any hurry with him. He is a big horse and we'd like to stick to a three-year-olds-only races like the Ulster Derby, but they are hard to find.

"He is a lovely horse going forward."

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes.