Deira Mile (Ire), last seen finishing fourth in the G1 Derby at Epsom, will not run in this weekend's Irish equivalent at the Curragh, trainer Owen Burrows confirmed on Monday.
The son of Camelot (GB) was beaten a total of seven and a half lengths behind City Of Troy (Justify) at Epsom, proving well suited by the step up to a mile and a half as he ran on strongly from the rear of the field to be nearest at the finish.
All roads now lead to the G1 St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday, September 14, according to Burrows, who is favouring a patient approach rather than pitching Deira Mile in at the top level again on Sunday.
“I've spoken to the owner Ahmad [Al Shaikh] this morning and we're just going to give him a little bit more time,” Burrows said of the decision to miss the Irish Derby.
“We feel that the Leger really is his race and he's got one or two other entries abroad later on. He's not going to get confirmed tomorrow and we'll be swerving Ireland.”
Burrows saddled only five runners at Royal Ascot, with Alflaila (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) faring best of his Group 1 horses when returning from 284 days off the track with a creditable fourth-place finish in the Prince of Wales's Stakes.
“I was pleased with him,” Burrows said of Alflaila's performance. “I thought it was a solid run after 280 odd days off. It wasn't helpful he got slightly hampered late on, but I'm not making excuses and I'm not sure it would have made too much difference anyway.
“He seems fine coming out of it and we'll see where we'll go next–we're not 100% certain yet.”
The trainer also saddled Alyanaabi (Ire) to finish fifth in the G1 St James's Palace Stakes on the opening day of the meeting. A step up in trip is now being considered for the talented son of Too Darn Hot (GB), who was also fifth to Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) on his first start of the campaign in the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.
“He's probably run to a similar level to what he did in the Guineas,” Burrows summed up. “It's a very strong year for the three-year-olds over a mile and Jim [Crowley, jockey] just felt that we probably want to be going a little bit further next time.
“He's not quite able over a mile but when we do step him up to 10 [furlongs] he can improve a bit.
“It's early days yet so we'll see how he's come out of it but he seems fine. He's run a tidy enough race but we'll go a little bit further with him.”
Cox Sets Eclipse Goal for Ghostwriter
One place ahead of Alyanaabi in the 2,000 Guineas was the Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who forfeited his unbeaten record at Newmarket having won his three starts as a two-year-old, including the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes.
Last seen finishing fourth in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly, Ghostwriter was a notable absentee at Royal Ascot but is due to return at Sandown on Saturday, July 6 when he could take on his elders for the first time in the G1 Coral-Eclipse.
“Ghostwriter is in great form and worked really well on Saturday morning,” Cox said. “As long as we don't have soft ground for Sandown in a couple of weeks, then at the moment we are hopefully heading to the Eclipse.
“The Guineas form keeps getting franked day by day and I do feel that his performance on the slightly easier ground in France would lead us to being quite excited about returning to a quicker surface over a mile and a quarter.
“It could be a very deep race but we are looking forward to it.”
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