Kingsgate could attempt sprint double

John Best plans to step Kingsgate Native up to six furlongs this summer with the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot very much in his thoughts ahead of the five-day bonanza.

Last year´s Nunthorpe winner makes his seasonal reapperance in the five furlong King´s Stand Stakes on the opening day of the Royal meeting and could also make a quick return to the Berkshire track four days later.

Not seen since his second in the Prix de l´Abbaye as a two-year-old, Kingsgate Native has been kept away from the racecourse to avoid the burden of a Group One penalty but Best says he is now ready for two races in five days.

He said: "We will step him up to six furlongs at some point and I wouldn´t rule out the Golden Jubilee on Saturday if he wins or runs very well in the Kingws Stand.

"I´m not saying that´s his target, the target is the King´s Stand, but it is very much a possiblity.

"Long-term the Nunthorpe and the July Cup are his main targets."

First up is the King´s Stand, though, and Best is hopeful that he has done enough to ready the Mujadil colt for his seasonal reappearance.

He continued: "He´s in really good form and I couldn´t be happier with him. It would´ve been nice to get a run into him but there hasn´t been anything suitable before next week so we´ve pretty much been forced to go straight there.

"But he´s a straightforward horse and we´ve had no hold-ups with him so I´ve only got myself to blame if he is not 100 per cent.

"We´ve done everything to have him as right as we can on the day. I don´t think there is anything like a race to have them absolutely spot on, but he´s had a racecourse gallop, that all went very well and I don´t think there is much more I can do."

A mature juvenile, Kingsgate Native spectacularly took advantage of generous two-year-old allowances in the top sprints last season but Best is adamant his stable star can cope in his three-year-old campaign.

"He´s done pretty well physically. Cheveley Park were down last week and they hadn´t seen him for a long time. They were pretty impressed with the physical improvement that he´d shown.

"Jimmy Quinn sat on him last week for the first time too, and he was also impressed with what he saw. Because I see him every day I probably don´t realise the difference as much but I think he´s come on.

"My main concern is that as a two-year-old he was so mature, that one or two of the other juveniles that were still very good may have improved more than him.

"I´m very happy with what I´ve got and he must go there with a decent chance."

The main stumbling block between Kingsgate Native and victory could be old rival Fleeting Spirit, who broke the track record at Haydock last time and has been heavily backed ahead of next week´s Group Two contest.

The pair have met before in the Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood when Jeremy Noseda´s filly won a tight battle by a neck, but Best is hopeful his horse can reverse that form next week.

"I think we were unlucky in the Molecomb. Fleeting Spirit was drawn right on the rails and ran straight down it, while we were drawn in the middle and had to tack across," he said.

"If we had been drawn next to each other I think we would have won.

"Fleeting Spirit is obviously a very fast filly and I´m hoping that the rain continues and it rides just the easy side of good.

"I´m not bothered from my horses point of view but if we get fast ground it will play into the hands of Fleeting Spirit, and we know our horse handles soft ground as he showed in France.

"If we got soft ground it would probably play into the hands of Benbaun, so from a tactical point of view I´d hope for the ground to be on the easy side of good.

"That would suit us best."