G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) is set to step up in trip after disappointing in the G1 Sussex S. last week. He holds entries in the G1 Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 21 and the G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown on Sept. 14.
Trainer Charlie Hills admitted he does not know what to attribute the colt's lacklustre Sussex effort to.
“He had a canter [on Tuesday] and moved really nicely,” Hills said. “We are just scratching our heads. Whether the track suited him, I'm not sure, as plenty of horses don't handle Goodwood.
“We don't know where we are going to go straight away, but the next week or two will tell us where to go. I think we are definitely looking to step him up to 10 furlongs. He is in a couple of 10-furlong races now and that is something we will look towards. We have a couple more tests to do this week and we will know a bit more.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
