Dubai: Godolphin will stop at nothing in their quest for success. Even if it means flying a thoroughbred halfway round the world to challenge for a race that lasts a shade over seventy seconds.
However, the £525,000 (Dh2.98 million) Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes, is a race that Dubai-owned stable has long sought to add to their bulging trophy cabinet and this year its appears. they have a realistic chance of winning.
Godolphin’s newly-acquired Australian sprint sensation Brazen Beau, who has flown 16,000 odd miles from his Melbourne base to Newmarket in England, is the popular market leader in the 1,200 contest which is the final day’s highlight at Royal Ascot which runs from June 16-20.
Over the years, the race which together with the opening day’s £375,000 Group 1 King Stand Stakes forms a formidable sprint combo, has received extreme interest in Australia as a result of the exploits of dual hemisphere-winning Choisir in 2003 and Black Caviar two years ago.
Brazen Beau may face a tall order as he bids to emulate the two Australian speedballs, but it would appear he has the right credentials to secure for Godolphin a first Jubilee trophy.
Multiple Group 1 winner-handler Chris Waller, who trains the three-year-old son of I Am Invincible at Flemington, was also toying with the idea of running his stable star in the King’s Stand, although he did indicate the Jubilee would be his principal target.
“I’m still a few days off making a final decision because I want to see what the weather forecast is like,” Waller said in the Newcastle Herald.
“If it is OK, then the Diamond Jubilee is the race we’ll more than likely run him in.”
“The Diamond Jubilee will give him a chance to show his class at 1,200 metres whereas the King’s Stand is a straight out sprint race,” Waller said.
Brazen Beau is among a team of four Australian horses who are scheduled to race at this year’s Royal meeting, with Gai Waterhouse-trained Wandjina also being aimed at the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
The Robert Smerdon-trained Shamal Wind will line-up for the King’s Stand Stakes while David Hayess Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Criterion is being aimed at the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (G1)
Commenting on his Royal Ascot mission Waller said: “It’s heaven for horses [Newmarket]. I’ve had some photos sent to me and the horse looks to have come through the trip very well,” Waller said.
Waller, who has won three Grade 1 Doncaster Miles in Australia, arrived in England on Wednesday to oversee Brazen Beau’s final preparations.
the Australian also won the Group 1 Victoria Derby with Preferment in 2014