Hills in confident mood as Nayef continues summer Triple Crown quest
Nayef will be tackling the biggest field for 28 years in the Group One contest.
The Marcus Tregoning-trained challenger is a 9-4 market leader with the sponsors to land the second part of the Triple Crown series after sparking the possibility with a dazzling victory on his 2003 comeback in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Hills, who picked up an eight-day ban for dropping his hands at Sandown yesterday, said: “If he runs as well as he did at Ascot, then I think he will win.
“It is a tough race and there are a lot of good horses who we will have to beat, but I am feeling pretty confident because I think I will be on the best horse.”
Tregoning and owner Sheikh Hamdan were motivated towards the BHB-initiated bonus by the freshness of their five-year-old, who showed his well-being when working in Lambourn on Monday.
Tregoning said: “The bonus has been set up to help create the ultimate middle-distance champion and I’m delighted I have a live contender for it in Nayef. He’s in very good form, I’m happy with him and he’s taken his Ascot race very well.”
