Khalid Abdullah's Midterm (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), fifth as the hot favourite in Thursday's G2 Dante S. at York, emerged from his third start and first loss none the worse for the wear, the owner's racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, told Channel 4 Racing.
“We were disappointed, there's no way getting away from it,” Grimthorpe said. “He never got into a rhythm. He was keen at one minute and didn't really settle. He got what looked to be a nice tow into the race behind the winner and just found not very much. He's fine this morning. I've spoken to [trainer Sir Michael Stoute], so I think we'll just have to let the dust settle a little bit.”
Midterm was favoured for the June 4 G1 Investec Derby after following up an October maiden score with a win in Sandown's G3 Classic Trial Apr. 23, but has since dropped to 16-1. Grimthorpe said the bay hasn't yet been ruled out of the blue riband.
“He will obviously have to impress in his well-being and everything else before he steps foot on a racecourse again,” he said. “He will get right, I'm sure of that.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
