Claymore (Fr) (New Bay {GB}), winner of last year's G3 Hampton Court S. at Royal Ascot and not sighted since finishing fourth behind Sir Busker (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) in the G2 York S. last July, is scheduled to make his seasonal debut in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. at Sandown May 25, with the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe a potential long-term objective.
The Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained colt could encounter last year's returning G1 Derby winner Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in what is shaping up into a mouthwatering renewal of the 10-furlong race.
Chapple-Hyam said: “Claymore is going for the Brigadier Gerard. He just got very jarred up at York. We got him ready to run at the Arc meeting and then it went bog-soft everywhere. It went from one extreme to the other, so we decided to pull the pin and have a lovely 4-year-old for this year.”
Should all go well at Sandown, Chapple-Hyam will likely return to Ascot and raised the possibility of an Arc bid.
“We will see what we do in the Brigadier Gerard, but he is in the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot and I don't know, is he a 50-1 shot for the Arc?
“The entries were on Tuesday and we've put him in–there's no harm. You just don't know if he'll make the cut, but better to be there than having to supplement.”
In other news from the yard, the full-brother to Chapple-Hyam's Group 1 winner Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), who was sold for 3.6 million guineas at the end of last season, arrived with the Newmarket handler on Tuesday morning.
Granger Bay (Ire), who fetched €450,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale, will run in the colours of Fiona Carmichael, having been in pre-training with Malcolm Bastard.
“I am a very lucky lady to be given the honour to train him,” said Chapple-Hyam. “He was bought from the Goffs sales and sent to Malcolm to be broken in.
“We felt we didn't want to rush him into a training yard in January or February as is the normal time slot, we said wait until after the Guineas, so he arrived on Tuesday morning.
“Fiona also has Intellogent (Ire) (Intello {Ger}) and Aplomb (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in the yard. It was really nice to get the call and I'm very happy with the squad I've got this year.”
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