Group 1 winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) is aiming to defend his title in the Apr. 15 G3 Abernant S. at Newmarket, trainer Roger Teal revealed on Monday. Oxted, who won the G1 July Cup S., was unplaced in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint on dirt in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 20. An alternative option for the gelding is the G2 Duke of York S. if the ground is too quick at Newmarket.
Teal said, “At the moment the plan is to go to Newmarket as long as the ground is not rattling fast. Newmarket can get very quick so we will be guided by the weather. He is on track for Newmarket, but he is entered in the Duke Of York and if we feel the ground is too quick for him next week we will wait for that instead.
“He took the travelling to Saudi Arabia really well but he lost quite a bit of weight on the journey back. However, he put that back on quickly and he looks in great order–I could not be happier with the way he looks.”
“I just think we got our tactics wrong in Saudi Arabia and we should have been a bit more patient,” he added. “We chased the pace early and ran out of gas at the end. We should have let him find his way into the race instead of going the break-neck pace they do on the dirt.”
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