Permian Likely For Secretariat

Trainer Mark Johnston has pinpointed the GI Secretariat S. at Arlington Aug. 12 as the next likeliest port of call for Permian (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) as he seeks a deserved top level success. The 3-year-old was denied by the narrowest margin by Shakeel (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}) in the G1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at Saint-Cloud July 14 and the Johnston team are determined to make the colt a Group 1 winner wherever that may be. Having bypassed last weekend's G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. it appears America is next on the agenda for the tough colt who has also racked up Group 2 wins at both York and Royal Ascot this season. “We'll have a look at how the Secretariat Stakes is shaping up and we'll have to make a decision one way or another by the middle of the week, as if he is going to run, he'll need to leave on Friday,” said Charlie Johnston, the trainer's son and assistant. “He's in great nick at home. It's almost unbelievable, but he actually came out of the race in France better than he's come out of any race. If he'd won in France, we'd have probably run him in the King George and gone on to the Juddmonte International and the Arc. We could have rolled the dice. But obviously the main thing we need to try and achieve is to make him a Group One winner and if we have to travel to do that, we will do,” he said.