Spirit facing acid test

Jeremy Noseda admits Fleeting Spirit faces a stiffer test at Royal Ascot next week than she did when breaking the track record at Haydock on her seasonal return.

Having won the Temple Stakes in ultra-impressive fashion last month, the filly is as short as 5-2 favourite with a number of bookmakers for the King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday.

Noseda said: “I spent all winter worrying about whether it was a good move to keep her but she started working in April and I got the feeling she had trained on.

“It’s a hard call to run a three-year-old sprinter against older horses and it takes an exceptional one to beat them.

“I hoped she would win the way she did at Haydock, but the King’s Stand is the acid test.”

Ryan Moore took the reins for the first time in the Temple and will renew his partnership next week.

But although Fleeting Spirit is also entered in the six-furlong Golden Jubilee Stakes at the Royal meeting, Noseda warns she is more likely to make just the one appearance.

“It could happen (that she’d run in both) but it’s very unlikely at the moment,” the Newmarket trainer continued.

“The King’s Stand is the race we’re going for and we’ll see how she gets on and take it from there.

“Ryan didn’t feel he had a sprinter for Sir Michael Stoute so I asked him to ride her at Haydock to see if he liked her.”