Bridging The Gap

Sir Michael Stoute is just two off the record of nine successes in Royal Ascot's G2 King Edward VII S. set by John Porter and few will be surprised if the Freemason Lodge guru creeps closer with Sir Evelyn de Rothschild's Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) on Friday. Labelled a 'TDN Rising Star' after his maiden success at Nottingham on Apr. 22, the homebred half-brother to the stable's 2013 King Edward winner Hillstar (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) was third behind Permian (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the G2 Dante S. over an extended 10-furlong trip at York on May 18 and sidestepped Epsom for this contest.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's Permian was disappointing when only 10th in the June 3 G1 Epsom Derby, but he would not be the first or the last to bounce back from an unplaced effort in the blue riband to lift this prize. Ironically, the last two to do so were a pair of Stoute's haul in Papal Bull (GB) and Across the Stars (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), with both mimicking Permian's 10th placing at Epsom.

Aidan O'Brien still has only one winner of this race on his record and his representative Sir John Lavery (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) failed to make Epsom after finishing a disappointing 16 lengths behind Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Glencadam Glory (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) when sixth as the 11-8 favourite for the May 13 Listed Lingfield Derby Trial. He is held in high regard and is sure to attract support despite that inauspicious showing, but he has a lot to find on the formbook with the Dante and Derby horses and also 'TDN Rising Star' Best of Days (GB) (Azamour {Ire}). Not seen since beating Ballydoyle's subsequently-exposed The Anvil (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in Newmarket's G2 Royal Lodge S. in September, he would represent a notable training achievement from Hugo Palmer if successful on his seasonal bow. “Best of Days had a setback in the spring, which is why he didn't make the Derby,” he explained. “I thought that we would miss that race by a couple of weeks and I have been really, really pleased with his work. He seems to be improving all of the time and I am excited about running him over a mile-and-a-half. My only slight misgiving is that we are going into a Group 2 at Royal Ascot on his seasonal reappearance, which is not an easy thing to do.”