By Daithi Harvey
Lambourn trainer Sylvester Kirk agonisingly missed out on a first Group 1 win when Salouen (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) was just edged out by Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom on Derby weekend and the trainer is hoping the colt can gain compensation in a couple of weeks time. “He is jumping out of his skin and I can't keep a lid on him,” said Kirk. “We are going to go to Saint-Cloud on July 1. There is the Group One Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud there over a mile and a half so that is where we are going next,” he added.
The 4-year-old has an entry in the G2 Hardwicke S. at Royal Ascot this week but Kirk intends to give Salouen an extra ten days to recover from his career best performance at Epsom.
“We were half-thinking about the Hardwicke but we decided to wait a big longer with him. It was a big performance the other day and he probably needs longer to get over that as it was his best run,” he said.
Salouen logged two Group 1 placings as a 2-year-old but went winless in 2017 although he did reach the frame twice in Group 2 events in France behind Eminent (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Garlingari (Fr) (Linngari {Ire}) and getting a win on the board is the ultimate goal for Kirk. “He has not won for a long time but that is because he has been dining at the top table for a long time. It would be nice to get his head in front once as he deserves it. Hopefully everything will go right next time.”
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