G1 Middle Park S. third Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who won the G2 Gimcrack S. in late August for Shadwell and trainer Owen Burrows, will not be seen the rest of the year and instead will be pointed at the G1 Commonwealth Cup S. at Royal Ascot next June. A winner at second asking at Salisbury on Aug. 9, the bay quickly added the Gimcrack 12 days later and was not disgraced when third in the Middle Park on Sept. 26.
“Minzaal ran well in the Middle Park and he has come out of it fine, but that is him done for the season,” said Burrows. “He will be heading back up to Shadwell shortly for the winter. He is still very exciting and we will look forward to taking on the winner [Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) again next year. I don't think we will be looking to go any further than six with him and the Commonwealth Cup will be the first aim.”
“We would give him a run before Ascot, as it is always hard to go Ascot in a normal year first time out. As long as he is well, we will try to find a prep race for him. Where we start before that, I'm not sure yet, but the [G3] Pavilion [S.] at Ascot is an obvious one then there is also the [G2] Sandy Lane [S.] The ground will be a factor, but it's a long way off.”
“Mehmas was taken off to stud at two, but I can't see any reason why this lad won't train on. He is as chilled as you like. He is not small and I look forward to how he does over the winter. Hopefully he will come back a stronger horse next year. He is bang up there with the best of them.”
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