Champion stayer Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will make his 2021 racecourse bow in the G3 Sagaro S. on Apr. 28, the Racing Post reported on Tuesday. The accomplished stayer captured the G1 Gold Cup on June 18 and July 28 G1 Goodwood Cup and ran second in the G2 Prix Foy in September. Cutting back to 1 ½ miles for the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the chestnut entire reported home seventh and was an uncharacteristic 12th in the G2 British Champions Long Distance Cup on Oct. 17.
“We're looking at the Sagaro S. at Ascot on Apr. 28 for Stradivarius,” John Gosden, who trains with his son Thady, told Racing Post. “We didn't fancy taking him all the way up to Newcastle for the race last year so he was forced to run in the G1 Coronation Cup. He ran well to finish third that day considering he was taking on Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
“He has wintered well and Frankie [Dettori] was happy with him when he rode him in work last week. The idea is to try to go back to Ascot for the Gold Cup, which is shaping up to be a very good race this year.”
The Gosdens' Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) returns in the G2 bet365 Mile at Sandown on Friday. A winner of the G1 St James's Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois last summer, the 4-year-old bay was third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on Oct. 17.
“We were thinking of going straight to the Lockinge with Palace Pier, but he's been so fresh in himself that we're running him at Sandown first,” Gosden added. “It looks a nice place to get him started.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
