Lockinge to be next stop for Addeybb

Addeybb and James Doyle return after victory at Sandown. Picture: Racingfotos.com

Connections of Addeybb have confirmed that the £350,000 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on May 19 will be the improving four-year-old’s next race.

The William Haggas-trained gelding remains among 25 contenders going forward for the QIPCO British Champions Series contest following Tuesday’s scratchings deadline. He is available at 6-1.

Addeybb was a fluent winner of the Group Two Bet365 Mile at Sandown last week, having previously easily won the Lincoln at Doncaster.

Maureen Haggas, assistant trainer to husband William at Somerville Lodge in Newmarket, said: “Addeybb did it nicely enough at Sandown. He’s such a nice horse and it was good to see him step up again by winning a Group 2 contest – we would like to see him on better ground now as he is a good mover.

“He’s a lovely horse who never puts a foot wrong. He has got a great temperament so that is all you can ask.

“The owner [Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum] rang up and said ‘Lockinge, Lockinge, Lockinge’, so I think that is where we’re aiming. The Lockinge is the obvious place to go next as it fits nicely into the calendar.”

Stormy Antarctic chased home Addeybb at Sandown and could reoppose him according to trainer Ed Walker.

“He was gelded during the middle of last season and since then, he has grown up,” Walker said. “Stormy Antarctic ran well at Sandown, but just came up against a progressive horse in Addeybb.

“He relishes conditions that have some give underfoot, so if conditions came into his liking, a race like the Lockinge might be something that we look at.”