Workforce could be Curragh bound
The Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on May 22 is seen as a more likely option for the colt, who ended his three-year-old campaign with a superb victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
“I’m not sure if he will go for the Coronation Cup. Michael (Stoute) is thinking about the Tattersalls Gold Cup among other races to start him off so he is not sure to go back to Epsom,” Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, said.
“I have to sit down with Michael and talk to him to see how the horse is and how he’s going. We will have to see, but at the moment the plan is probably not go to Epsom at this stage.”
Grimthorpe revealed the owner could still be represented in the Coronation Cup by the Henry Cecil-trained Manifest, who has not been seen since he was well beaten in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
“Henry gave him a good break after the Gold Cup. He was a bit jarred up, but nothing serious,” Grimthorpe said. “He has come back really well and looks great. Henry’s pleased with him at this stage.
“He could have a similar starting off programme. He could go to Newbury and maybe think about the Coronation Cup, or the Yorkshire Cup, that type of area.’’
As expected, Grimthorpe reported that last season’s champion two-year-old Frankel could make his eagerly-awaited reappearance ahead of the 2000 Guineas in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury on April 16.
“He hasn’t been asked to do anything serious yet, but Henry’s (Cecil) delighted with him,” he said.
Meanwhile Twice Over will have to defy an unfavourable draw if he is to lift the Dubai World Cup at Meydan on Saturday night. Grimthorpe said: “I wouldn’t have chosen it, but there are two things in racing that you can’t affect — one is the draw and the other is the going.”
