Not among the latest G1 Juddmonte International entries, Arc hero Daryz (Sea The Stars) will be kept fresh for Arc Trials Day on September 6.
The Aga Khan Studs runner won both the G1 Prix Ganay in April and the G1 Prix Aga Khan IV (Prix d'Ispahan) in May. He was a last out third for Francis-Henri Graffard in the G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes captured by Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) in June.
Nemone Routh, French racing manager and director for owners the Aga Khan Studs, said, “He's very well and he went on the grass for the first time since he came back from Ascot the other day and he looks great. He's very relaxed and moving well and we're very happy with him – he seems back in the zone.
“He had that bad blood test when he came back from Ascot and we had to treat him for that and he didn't have time off as such, but we sort of backed off him a little to get over all that.
“The plan is to prepare him for Arc trials weekend. He's such an exciting horse and it's such a shame we missed that one thing going to Ascot and he didn't quite show his true form that day.
“He wasn't disgraced though and now back on his home turf – he just loves Longchamp – hopefully if we can keep him right until then it will be exciting to see him back on the track.”
A horse bearing the green-with-red-epaulettes that is still possible for the Juddmonte International is Zarkava (Zamindar)'s grandson Zaydann (Dubawi). Successful in five-straight races after breaking his maiden on his third start, the colt prevailed most recently in the G3 Grand Prix de Vichy last week.
Routh added, “The Juddmonte International wasn't really an objective for him but we've kept him in at York as we're sort of scratching our heads where we will go with him now and we just wanted to give ourselves the option.
“He would be up against Ombudsman and Constitution River (Wootton Bassett), but those sort of races can easily cut up and you could end up with a four or five-runner race with pacemakers in there.
“He's obviously way below that level at the moment in terms of what he has done, but he's won his last five, is incredibly well-bred and is still improving even though it is going to take a big step forward to be competitive at that level.
“We're still figuring out the best route to take with him and it will probably involve a conversation with Princess Zahra to make a plan. But we wanted to keep the York option open just in case she is tempted by that more than sending him internationally or going to Deauville.”
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