Ascot's Head of International Racing, Nick Smith, will next week begin a three-week international tour aimed at head-hunting global stars for this year's Royal Ascot meeting, according to Racing Post.
Smith told the trade daily Horse of the Year California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) and Hong Kong star Able Friend (Aus) (Shamardal) are high on his list of horses to recruit.
“Able Friend and California Chrome would be the two highest-profile horses we'll be looking at,” Smith said. “Able Friend would be a short-priced favorite for the Queen Anne, and the owner and John Moore have been public in their aspirations to have a Royal Ascot winner. It's encouraging we have been identified as their overseas target.”
He added, “I sat down with [California Chrome's trainer] Art Sherman at the Breeders' Cup. Art said he was considering Dubai and Royal Ascot, possibly one of the two or both. I'll be following up with him about plans.”
Smith added that he would also be encouraging trainer Graham Motion, who visited Royal Ascot in 2013 with G1 Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), to do a similar trip with dual Eclipse award winner Main Sequence (Aldebaran), who is likely to aim for the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic on the World Cup Card.
Smith will also be visiting Japan and Australia, and he has been invited to Argentina to help identify a possible Royal Ascot contender.
“They want to see if we can find a horse who can go to Royal Ascot to put them on the map, very much like Choisir did for Australian racing, who could possibly run in the [G1] Prince of Wales's S. if not this year, in the future,” Smith explained.
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