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12 Jun 2020

Superstar Strad heads nine for the Gold Cup

Staying supremo Stradivarius will look to secure his third successive Gold Cup at Royal Ascot next Thursday.

The John Gosden-trained six-year-old will look to emulate the likes of Yeats and Sagaro in securing a third Gold Cup on the bounce. Stradivarius warmed up for the race by pleasing connections in last week’s Coronation Cup over a less than ideal 1M4F trip, but stayed on gamely to take third.

The chestnut will face just eight rivals in his hat-trick bid with earlier market rival, Kew Gardens taken out of the race after not pleasing connections at home.

His closest rival now in the market is globe-trotter, Cross Counter. The 2018 Melbourne Cup winner is looking to bounce back after a winless run through the majority of last season which included a couple of respectable efforts against Stradivarius and an eighth place in the Melbourne Cup.

Other notable runners include Nayef Road for Mark Johnston who looked very impressive when winning first time out on the tapeta at Newcastle in the Sagaro Stakes. Previous results had also seen this horse finish third in the 2019 William Hill St Leger.

British Champions Series ambassador, Oisin Murphy will team up with Martyn Meade to ride Technician. After a low-key effort in the St Leger, Technician went over to France and picked up two big Group races including the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp.

Full Entries:

Cross Counter, Mekong, Moonlight Spirit, Nayef Roaf, Oriental Eagle, Prince of Arran, Stradivarius, Techncian, Withhold