The early signs are that Saturday's G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) will not take up his engagement in the G1 Investec Derby on June 4, with connections favouring a rematch with runner-up and G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) at Royal Ascot instead.
Angus Gold, racing manager to the colt's owner/breeder Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, said, “It was a fantastic result and I'm so happy for Kevin [Prendergast], for all his team and Chris Hayes. Kevin has been training for Sheikh Hamdan for many years without having much joy, so I'm thrilled for him to get a horse like this at this time of his life. He's an incredible man.”
Gold continued, “I think we knew he was a very nice horse, but it's always hard to equate the English form against the Irish form. I don't think there was any fluke about it. He wasn't a lucky winner–I think he won it fair and square. I had a brief chat with Kevin and Sheikh Hamdan last night. My gut reaction, which I think Sheikh Hamdan shared, would be to go for the St James's Palace.”
Awtaad is currently a 12-1 shot to emulate paternal half-brothers Sea The Stars (Ire) and Golden Horn (Ire) at Epsom, but his team is concerned the Derby may come too soon for the lightly-raced colt who has already booked himself a berth in Shadwell's stallion barn.
“The Derby is a lovely idea, but you'd be going up a considerable amount of distance in a short space of time,” said Gold. “I'm sure he would get further as he has a wonderful temperament, but he looks a high-class miler to me and after beating the English 2000 Guineas winner, I think you'd be hard pushed not to go to Ascot. Hopefully he's going to be a stallion for the stud and he'd look an even more attractive proposition if he were to win the St James's Palace. We'll see how he is and talk about it during the week, but I think we'll be staying at a mile for the immediate future.”
Galileo Gold's trainer Hugo Palmer is looking forward to his colt locking horns with Awtaad again at the Royal Meeting and reported the runner-up to be in good order after Saturday's exertions.
“He came home sound and ate up and he is very well–he's genuinely never been better, which is a huge relief,” he said.
“He had to put more effort into the race yesterday than he has in any of his previous races. He blew for five or six minutes after Newmarket and he was blowing for nearly half an hour after yesterday, which gives you an idea of how hard he tried on ground he hated.”
Reporting that Galileo Gold lost seven kilos during his trip to The Curragh–four more than he lost when winning at his local track of Newmarket, Palmer added, “He's bright and well and happy. We won't know how much of a stain the race has left on him until he runs again, but being a fit, strong horse, I hope he takes it in his stride. All being well we'll head to the St James's Palace, where hopefully he'll encounter ground that will suit him better. Bring it on.”
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