Odiham on Sagaro trail

Hughie Morrison is hoping Odiham can successfully step up to Group Three company in the Woodcote Stud Sagaro Stakes at Ascot tomorrow.

The East Ilsley handler won the two-mile feature with Alcazar in 2003 and 2005 and believes his Queen’s Prize winner could still be on the upgrade at the age of six.

“He’s in good form. We’ll probably not be doing his handicap mark any good by running him in this race.” Morrison said.

“But he doesn’t seem to run up his best in handicaps on turf so we are trying a different way tomorrow.

“It’s a typical Sagaro Stakes. We know the race and the horses well having won it a couple of times with Alcazar.

“We’re rated 102 on the all-weather after he won off 99 in the Queen’s Prize. That was quite a good performance first time out.

“He might be short of Group class but there comes a point when you have to try. He’s six and that’s the best age for a stayer as they tend to still be improving.

“Last season he came off the back of running over hurdles and that can just take the edge off them.

“We are aiming higher this year. We were playing with the idea of waiting to go for the Chester Cup but we will see how we end up tomorrow.”

Odiham has 8st 8lb in the totesport Chester Cup and is 14-1 with the sponsors for the valuable handicap on Wednesday week.