G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), a last-out third in the G1 St James's Palace S. at Royal Ascot last week, is likely to bypass Glorious Goodwood in favour of the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville Aug. 14. Trainer Kevin Prendergast said he is satisfied with the Sheikh Hamdan colourbearer's run at Ascot and noted his charge came out of the race in good order.
“He came home from Ascot well and he couldn't be in better form,” the conditioner said. “He ran a good race, but the ground was atrocious on the day. He can handle easy to soft ground, but he just couldn't cope with that at all and the way the race was run, Frankie [Dettori, riding winner Galileo Gold] was just in a different league on the day. You can't make up the sort of ground we had to when the ground is as heavy as that, but he ran well and we move on. The Jacques le Marois at Deauville on Aug. 14 could be next on the agenda. It's not set in stone, but that's the way we're thinking at the moment.”
Prendergast said Awtaad could be stepped up in distance later in the season, but for now he is content to keep his stable star at a mile.
“We're in no rush to step him up in trip at this stage,” he said. “He's four from six so far and he's never been further than a mile. We have the option of stepping up to a mile and a quarter in the [G1] Irish Champion S. later in the year, or we could stick at a mile in the [G1] QEII at Ascot. We'll just see how things go.”
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