The participation of White Birch (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}) in Saturday's Coral-Eclipse at Sandown hinges on how the Group 1 scorer comes through a crucial gallop on Wednesday, according to George Murphy, assistant trainer to his father John.
White Birch got the better of Aidan O'Brien's Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on his most recent start but missed the rematch in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot.
He will face another Ballydoyle big gun in this year's Derby winner City Of Troy (Justify) if declared for Saturday, but Murphy explained that there are some hoops to jump through at home first.
Murphy said, “The plan is to go to Sandown and he will have a breeze tomorrow [Wednesday] and he will have his blood done in the morning again, with a decision made after midday. Hopefully we will be able to go and we're really looking forward to it.”
White Birch will have to concede 10lb to City Of Troy as well as the other three-year-olds in the mix, which include Clive Cox's Ghostwriter, Roger Teal's French 2,000 Guineas runner-up Dancing Gemini and Brian Meehan's Royal Ascot scorer Jayarebe.
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