Favourite with the bookies is Churchill, who has to improve markedly on his debut third over six furlongs at The Curragh May 22, but who obviously carries a big reputation from Ballydoyle. Frankel (GB) has two shots to fire at this, with the May 13 Newbury maiden winner Cunco from the Gosden yard and Frankuus, a Mark Johnston trainee who also scored on debut over this trip at Haydock nine days ago. Gosden said of the former, “I don't know about the ground. We are in the dark about how he will handle it, so we will just have to see how he goes. It seems to be quite holding on the straight track. He is a hot-headed devil that has a very strong mind. He has come forward from his last run.” Mark Johnston is hoping that he is not running Frankuus back too quickly after his debut and commented, “I don't think our Frankel was hyped us much as the first [Cunco] on his first start. Like him, I think he is a bit of a Jack the Lad. We are hoping he goes the right way and he has come on since his Haydock run. The Chesham was not set in stone, but looking at the field he very much deserves to be there from his first run. He is a very green raw horse that needs to go the right way. He would not be the most impressive work horse, as he has got his mind on other things all the time. Hopefully, that is a bit of a phase and that he will start learning a lot.” Godolphin have acquired Aiming For Rio, a dual winner for Matthieu Palussiere who was particularly impressive when scoring by five lengths over six furlongs at Deauville last time June 9. Those punters who choose to ignore the French challenger should remember that 12 months ago a relative unknown in Suits You (Fr) (Youmzain {Ire}) managed to upstage Ballydoyle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in this.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
