Godolphin set sights on QEII
The ‘boys in blue’ have been firing in the winners recently and will be hoping one of their stable stars can provide them with a fourth success in this high-profile contest.
Having saddled Mark Of Esteem, Dubai Millennium and Summoner to lift the prize in recent years, handler Saeed bin Suroor certainly knows what it takes to win the mile showpiece and he feels his chosen pair will do him proud this time around.
“The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is a very good race in terms of the quality of the runners,” he concedes. “I am looking forward to good runs from both the Godolphin horses. Librettist is unbeaten this year and has won two Group Ones in France. This is his big test in England and I am pleased with him.
“Proclamation is having his second run this season. He is in good form and has been working pleasingly for Kerrin McEvoy who rides on Saturday and knows him well,” he told www.godolphin.com.
While Librettist has proved popular with punters today, there will undoubtedly be much interest in Proclamation, who has had just the one run under the Godolphin banner to date. He finished a respectable third behind Ad Valorem in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot at a time when the team’s horses were underperforming, and McEvoy is very much looking forward to partnering him in the £250,000 event.
“I’ve ridden him a few times at home and he’s been moving really well and done some nice bits of work,” he told At The Races.
“I’d like a bit of rain as I think that’ll help him tomorrow.”
The presence of impressive Sussex Stakes winner Court Masterpiece adds further strength to the field, with connections expecting another bold show from their six-year-old, who impressed in a recent workout. “He always works pretty good but to me he just seemed to look better – he has a lot of zest in his work at the moment anyway,” explained Bruce Raymond, racing manager to owners Gainsborough Stud.
