Holberg 'pencilled in' for Gold Cup

Holberg is still being considered for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, despite being beaten on his comeback run at Sandown last week.

The Godolphin-owned five-year-old, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, was sent off favourite for the Henry II Stakes but could only finish third to Blue Bajan.

However, connections were not too despondent as it was his first public appearance since filling sixth place in the Melbourne Cup in November.

“Holberg is pencilled in for the Gold Cup. Maybe the ground was a little bit sticky for him the other day at Sandown, having been off for quite some time,” said Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford.

“It was his first comeback race since the Melbourne Cup, so we can’t have been too disappointed with that run.

“And we’ve got plenty of others we are looking forward to seeing there.”

Those horses include Delegator, who is favourite for the Golden Jubilee stakes after showing sprinting was his game when winning the Duke of York Stakes on his first run of the year.

“Delegator is going to run in the Golden Jubilee. He did some work this morning and is in very good form, so we are looking forward to seeing him in that race,” Crisford told At The Races.