Sultan Ahmad Shah’s STRATEGIC PRINCE (Dansili [GB]) looks likely to head
straight to the May 5 English Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) at Newmarket,
connections revealed on Thursday.
Trainer Paul Cole declared last year’s July S. (Eng-G2) and Vintage S.
(Eng-G2) winner as “on schedule” for the mile classic, which will be his first
outing since finishing third in the Dewhurst S. (Eng-G1) on the Rowley Mile.
“He put on an awful lot of weight during the winter, possibly a little bit
too much, but we’re gradually working it off him and he’s got his summer coat,”
Cole said. “He’s always been pretty straightforward to train, as he’s got pretty
good legs. He’s on schedule, he looks great and he’s moving very well.
“I’ve always felt, with a horse that will get further than a mile, that a
prep race is not a good idea,” he added. “We’re hoping he will get the Derby
distance as the whole family have stayed, but he has got devastating speed and
that’s at the back of my mind. Now the ground is drying out, I’ll be pushing
more buttons.”
In other Guineas news, Peter Chapple-Hyam issued an upbeat bulletin on Susan
Roy and Cheveley Park Stud’s DUTCH ART (Medicean) ahead of the unbeaten colt’s
tilt in the Newmarket classic.
“I’m very pleased with Dutch Art — I couldn’t be happier,” Chapple-Hyam told
PA Sport. “I have no doubts about the trip and if he gets it, he wins. He should
get the trip the way he runs his races — he just lobs along. We have to try —
only time will tell — but he has a good attitude. He’s a natural and does
exactly what it says on the tin.”
Dutch Art, winner of last year’s Prix Morny (Fr-G1) and Middle Park S.
(Eng-G1), has yet to tackle a trip in excess of six furlongs. His conditioner is
looking at the possibility of a prep race in the seven-furlong Greenham S.
(Eng-G3) at Newbury on April 21, but stressed that his participation in a trial
is dependent on the ground.
“It all depends on the weather,” he added. “If it stays fine, he will go
straight to the Guineas but if it goes funny and I can’t work him so well, he
would go to the Greenham.”