Ground worry for Border team

Connections of Border Patrol hope the four-year-old can book his place in the Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes with a good run at Sandown tomorrow.

The lightly-raced son of Selkirk, trained by Roger Charlton, is set to make his seasonal debut in the bet365 Mile although they are slight concerns about the ground.

“The plan is to run if we can. We know he likes a bit more juice in the ground,” said Matthew Budden, racing manager for owners the Elite Racing Club.

“Obviously we have reservations on that front, but the way things are at the moment, we think we ought to get a start somewhere.

“If we possibly can, we’d like to look towards the Lockinge. He’s quite a big horse and I’m sure a run is going to bring him on.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to get a start into him tomorrow. He’s a progressive horse, he improved a lot from two to three, we’d hope he’d improve from three to four as well.

“He’s a son of Selkirk and has always looked like a horse that is going to keep improving physically. We’ll be looking for a good year from him whatever happens tomorrow.

“He’s got a bit to prove. He’s won a Group Three and he’s up in class tomorrow, but it’s the most suitable race for him to start with.”