By Brian Sheerin
The lure of winning top-level dirt races in America has prompted the owners of Missed The Cut (Quality Road) to transfer the Royal Ascot winner from Newmarket trainer George Boughey to John Sadler's California-based barn.
Missed The Cut propelled Boughey onto the big stage when landing the Golden Gates S. Handicap at the royal meeting last year but disappointed as a 13-8 favorite when only managing fourth behind Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G3 Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia when last seen.
A decision was made shortly after that Riyadh effort to transfer Missed The Cut to America, where he will now be trained with a dirt campaign in mind, according to Bill Farish of Lane's End Farm, part-owners in the horse.
“He's joined John Sadler and he is excited to get him,” Farish told TDN Europe on Friday. “Missed The Cut looks wonderful and travelled over well. He's gone through his quarantine and now he's in John's barn. George Boughey did a great job with him and had him in great shape for the trip. It's exciting to get him over here and he doesn't have a lot of miles under him.”
Sam Haggas of Hurworth Bloodstock and Boughey bought Missed The Cut for just 40,000gns from Shadwell at the Tattersalls February Sale in 2022.
It proved a shrewd investment with Missed The Cut winning three of his first four races, including that Royal Ascot triumph, after which Lane's End bought into the colt.
On future plans, Farish said, “We're hopeful for Missed The Cut. He trained on the dirt in Saudi Arabia and looked like he really liked it–moved really well on it. We're hopeful that he can be as good or better on the dirt.”
He added, “The idea is to angle him for Grade I races on the dirt if he shows an affinity for it. We have a good ownership group that is hopeful that we can have some fun with him. If not, we can always go back to the turf with him.
“We're just going to see how he gets on. He obviously likes racing over a mile-and-a-quarter and there are a lot of great races over here on the dirt over that distance.”
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