Toormore Camp Mulls Options

Connections of Toormore (Ire) (Arakan) are considering a wealth of options following the colt’s narrow second in the G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. at Newbury last Saturday. The 4-year-old was a leading candidate for Classic glory last term but failed to hit the expected heights before eventually bouncing back to something like his best when third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on his final start. He has hit the ground running for trainer Richard Hannon and owners Middleham Park Racing this season though, going down by just a neck to stablemate Night of Thunder (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Newbury Group 1.

Middleham Park’s Tim Palin commented, “It was great to see him back. He did it in almost perfect matter, but the winner was better on the day and was probably a fitter horse. We’ll now spend hours and hours working out what to do next.”

“Do we drop him in class for a confidence boost or do we go for broke for the [G1] Queen Anne [S. at Royal Ascot June 16], which is probably going to be the race of the year?” continued Palin. “The other option is to step him up in trip. Kieren Fallon said after the QEII that he would get a mile and a quarter, so do we go the [G1] Eclipse [S. at Sandown July 4] route?”