Aquarius coming of age at Goodwood
Trainer Aidan O’Brien reports the four-year-old to be in good shape ahead of the race following his fine effort at Royal Ascot, where he went down by only a neck to Rite Of Passage after a terrific tussle in the closing stages.
“He’s in good form. Obviously he had a tough race at Ascot and we eased him down a little bit,” O’Brien told At The Races.
“We did step back, but he is ready to go racing again. He’s a lovely balanced horse. We are looking forward to seeing him run. Before Ascot he had the two prep races on the way up and we were very happy with his run in the Gold Cup.
“This is a lovely race to start him back.”
The Luca Cumani-trained Purple Moon, who was six lengths back in third at Royal Ascot, is another tip-top entry for the Group Two contest over two miles.
Saeed bin Suroor has three possibles in Kite Wood, Wajir and Whispering Gallery, while John Dunlop is double-handed with the in-form Tactic and Akmal.
Other interesting entries include The Queen’s Free Agent, trained by Richard Hannon, and Nicky Henderson’s 13-year-old stalwart Caracciola.
