Carlton House is reported to be at the top of his game ahead of his bid for Classic glory in the Irish Derby at the Curragh on Sunday.
The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt has been the subject of much media frenzy this year, owing to the fact he is owned by the Queen, making him second only to Frankel as the most talked-about horse of the summer.
The furore was only heightened by a superb display in the Dante Stakes at York on his seasonal return and he headed to the Epsom Derby as favourite to give Her Majesty a first victory in the world’s most famous Flat race.
The warning signs were out for his supporters when he suffered a setback in the week leading up to the race and the disappointment of defeat was soon to follow.
But he was far from disgraced in finishing third, beaten just a length by French ace Pour Moi, after coming from some way back and losing a shoe inside the final furlong (200m).
A trouble-free run since has prompted connections to let the son of Street Cry take his chance in the Irish equivalent, and Her Majesty’s racing manager, John Warren, is excited about seeing him in action again.
“It’s all very exciting and we’re thrilled that the horse has come out of Epsom extremely well,” Warren said.
“I’m thrilled for the Queen as that has given her something to very much look forward to this weekend.”
The reopposing Treasure Beach was narrowly ahead of Carlton House at Epsom, while Memphis Tennessee, Native Khan and Seville were all behind and are in attendance again.
Warren is looking forward to finding out which of the colts has progressed most.
“It should be a fascinating race with much of the field from Epsom, apart from the winner, converging on Ireland,” he said.
“It will be interesting to see what these three-year-olds will do with themselves and it will interesting to see who has come out of Epsom best.
“I think it would be fair to say they are all on the cusp of making improvement. They make improvement from their trials to the Derby, and it is now about which ones have gone on again from there.
“Most of them were unexposed horses going into the Derby and the margins have been close enough.
“What we are excited about is that we hope all those little issues that he had going into the Derby are now behind him.
“With only eight runners, it should be a really true and fair race.”
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