Weather may scupper Hawk Wing’s Lockinge return
Last year's Epsom runner-up is reported to be in good order by trainer Aidan O'Brien ahead of this weekend's engagement.
However, O'Brien, who will have no runners at York this week, did warn that wet weather could scupper the proposed trip for the Group One contest.
"Obviously he had a hard race in the Derby," said the trainer, recalling the stirring finish whereby Hawk Wing was just unable to overhaul stablemate High Chaparral 12 months ago.
"It probably didn't do him a lot of good to be meeting Rock of Gibraltar over a mile in the Guineas and then High Chaparral over a mile and half if I was him it wouldn't have done me any good!
"Because of it he probably struggled a little bit for the rest of the season but it is going to be very interesting with him this year.
"We will have to treat him very kindly and bring him along gently.
"He is a strong possible for Newbury but we will see what way the ground will go. He won't run if it is too soft, we won't be taking any chances with him this year.
"It's possible that he will start off over a mile and then go up to a mile and a quarter before we look at whether we want to go any further.
"His work has always been exceptional and we always thought he was a very good horse. He's the one horse that it is always a pleasure to watch but there will still be a lot of improvement for his first run."
Should the ground stay good for Hawk Wing, then unraced two-year-old Grand Reward could also make his debut at the same meeting.
O'Brien's juvenile team have not made their usual flying start to the season but the vibes today were that this full-brother to Sophisticat is among the leading lights.
High Chaparral's return to action has been delayed by a pulled shoulder muscle and O'Brien confirmed that the colt will not be back in action until later in the season.
"We are just looking at getting him back into work and hoping that he will be ready for the second half of the season," O'Brien said.
"He won't make Royal Ascot, that's for sure. We're not going to force him.
"But it might work in our favour that we miss some of the high-summer races.
"Both him and Hawk Wing have developed well over the winter but they had a hard three-year-old campaign.
"They ran in the Classic races at three and then without having much of a break they were asked to take on the best older horses. That was a lot to ask."
Among the other horses that the stable is looking forward to unleashing in the coming weeks is Statue of Liberty, unraced since winning the Coventry Stakes at last year's Royal meeting.
O'Brien is trying to get the colt ready for the Entenmann's 2000 Guineas at the Curragh in a fortnight.
"He was definitely our best two-year-old last season, an unbelievably impressive worker," the trainer said.
"He has had muscle problems and then tore a fetlock joint which was quite a serious injury.
"He seems fine again now and hopefully we can get him back. It was a big shock when that happened."
Tomahawk and Catcher In The Rye are among those who could also be Guineas-bound, while L'Ancresse and Yesterday are bound for the fillies' version.
Yesterday is also an intended runner in the Vodafone Oaks, the race in which her full-sister Quarter Moon finished second 12 months ago.
