Trainer Jim Bolger started the Classic campaign of Dawn Approach (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) on a winning note in the G1 2000 Guineas in 2013, and the Coolcullen conditioner will soon to decide whether to take the same approach with that one's Group 2-winning first-crop son, Herald The Dawn (Ire), or to give the Godolphin colourbearer a prep prior to that Apr. 30 Newmarket contest.
“He's got a lot stronger and he's much thicker than he was last year, but I wouldn't think any higher,” Bolger told At The Races. “He's a very strong-looking animal.”
Herald The Dawn won The Curragh's G2 Futurity S. in August before finishing second to juvenile champion Air Force Blue (War Front) in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S., and Bolger admitted the bay had some lengths to make up on that Ballydoyle incumbent.
“They need to thrive throughout the winter and also into the spring,” he said. “His form was very good, but he still has to improve a bit to get near the ante-post favourite [Air Force Blue]. We'll be upping the pace with him in the next couple of weeks and if he's working lazily we'll have to consider a run beforehand, but otherwise he'll go straight there.”
“I haven't thought about where we might go for a possible prep run as the ground would be a big factor with him,” Bolger added. “I'd be hoping to grab a Group 1 with him some place during the year.”
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