Group 1 winner White Birch (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}) will defend his G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup crown on May 25, according to assistant trainer George Murphy, who assists his father, John. The grey is first likely to resume in the G2 Mooresbridge Stakes in early May.
The Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez runner won all three of his starts in 2024–April's G3 Alleged Stakes, the G2 Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh a month later, and the May 26 Gold Cup, claiming the scalp of Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the latter. He was benched for the remainder of the year with a setback just before Royal Ascot.
“He's wintered very well and looks superb and we couldn't be happier with how he's training,” said George Murphy, assistant to his father.
“We'll more than likely start off at the Curragh, we'll probably skip the Group 3 [Alleged Stakes, Apr. 12] and head to the Mooresbridge [Stakes, Curragh, May 5] and then we'll go on to the Tattersalls Gold Cup,that I think will be the plan. Hopefully he gets there in one piece, but he's in good shape at the moment anyway.”
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