Germany could be on Buck's agenda

Connections of Hard Buck are unlikely to finalise plans for the American horse until Tuesday with a trip to Germany in September under consideration.

The Kenny McPeek-trained five-year-old ran the race of his life to finish second to Doyen in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes on his European debut at Ascot yesterday.

The mile-and-half Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap at Saratoga on August 11 is a possible American target but if the horse were to remain in Europe, he could tackle the Grosser Preis von Baden in Germany on September 5.

“We are going to make a decision in the next few days about where we go,” said McPeek. “We could take him back to Saratoga for the Sword Dancer but it may be too fast for him or we could go to Baden-Baden.

“He is booked on a flight home on Wednesday so we will probably make a decision on Tuesday.”

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on October 3 was mooted as a possibility if Hard Buck ran well yesterday and McPeek is still keen to give it serious thought.

“The Arc is absolutely still a consideration,” he added.

The Brazilian-bred Hard Buck started his career in his native South America before being recruited by McPeek and owners Team Victory.

He belied his 33-1 starting price in the King George and McPeek reports the horse to be none the worse for his exertions today.

He said: “He’s great this morning and he came out of the race very well. We were delighted with his run as a kind of first experiment. We were really pleased.”