Lockinge bid low on the agenda for Docklands Docklands is likely to sidestep next weekend’s Lockinge Stakes following his excellent recent effort in Hong Kong. Harry Eustace’s stable star is back on home soil after finishing an honourable third in the FWD Champions Mile at Sha Tin last month, beaten just three-quarters of a length. While Docklands has the option of returning to British action at Newbury on Saturday week, Eustace could keep his Group One powder dry the defence of his title in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, with Epsom’s Diomed Stakes a possible stepping-stone. Eustace said: “He won’t go to the Lockinge I don’t think, unless suddenly four or five others get temperatures and are ruled out I would think we will be skipping it. “He’s came out of the race at Sha Tin well and landed back home the same weight as he was when he went, so we can’t ask for more than that really. “We will just see how he is. He obviously ran at Epsom (Diomed Stakes) last season and that might be an option, or we head straight to Royal Ascot. We haven’t quite decided yet.” After Ascot Eustace will consider more big-race options abroad, including a possible trip across the Atlantic. He added: “We are waiting to see how we get on at Ascot and that will dictate what the rest of his programme will look like and where he fits in with this new batch of milers. “If he is just as competitive I suspect he will stay within Europe. If not then we might look further afield. I’d be quite keen after running well in Hong Kong to have a look at a couple of options in the States.”
