Newmarket trainer Marco Botti is set to launch a dual assault on the Group 2,
£109,150 Princess of Wales’s with Group/Grade 1 winners Jakkalberry and
Joshua Tree due to line up in the 1 1/2-mile contest on Ladies Day at
Newmarket’s July Festival on Thursday.
Jakkalberry, who captured the Group 1 Gran Premio di Milano for Botti’s
cousin Endo in June 2010, heads to the July Course after coming home fifth
behind Sea Moon in the Group 2 Hardwicke at Royal Ascot on June 23.
The six-year-old started the year with a pair of fine efforts in Dubai,
including when coming home a fast-finishing third in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema
Classic at Meydan on March 31.
“Jakkalberry has come out of Royal Ascot in good order,” Botti said. “We are
just monitoring how much rain there is at Newmarket because he is a fast-ground
horse — he would be fine with a little bit of cut in the ground but he wouldn’t
want it too soft.
“I think that he has definitely come on for his run in the Hardwicke Stakes.
We gave him a break after he came back from Dubai and that race will have
brought him on. His run in the Dubai Sheema Classic, when he had ideal
conditions, was probably his best run to date.
“We are aiming him at the (Group 1) Melbourne Cup this year and there are a
couple of options before then. He could head to Chicago in August or the (Group
3) Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury.”
Five-year-old Joshua Tree, successful in the Grade 1 Canadian International
for Aidan O’Brien in October 2010, finished fourth on his latest start in this
year’s Gran Premio Di Milano on June 10.
The son of Montjeu also started the season in good form at Meydan,
culminating with a staying-on second in the Group 3 Dubai Gold Cup over two
miles on March 31.
“Joshua Tree ran a good race in Italy,” Botti added. “Being by Montjeu, he
gets away with a little bit of cut in the ground but he wouldn’t want it too
soft either. He is a solid old horse and he ran some nice races out in Dubai at
the start of the year.
“We are keen to get a run into him because we want to keep him fit for the
new race on the Arlington Million card over a mile, five and a half furlongs,”
Botti said, referring to the American St Leger. “He’s a horse who takes a lot of
work so we need to run him to keep him fit.”
A field of nine for the Princess of Wales’s also features the admirably
consistent Red Cadeaux, who was runner-up in last year’s Melbourne Cup. Ed
Dunlop’s charge won the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup in May and was second to St
Nicholas Abbey in the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom the following month before
coming home third in the Hardwicke.
Supplementary entry Modun lines up for Saeed bin Suroor, while William Haggas
is responsible for Harris Tweed, who was the impressive winner of a Group 3 on
his seasonal return at Newbury in April.
Dandino, successful in the Group 2 Jockey Club on the Rowley Mile in April
2011, returns to the July Course for James Fanshawe after going down by a
half-length in the Fred Archer on June 30.
The line up is completed by the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Fiorente, Quest
for Peace from the stable of Luca Cumani, and Sea of Heartbreak, a Group 2
winner in France for Roger Charlton.
Racing gets underway on Ladies Day with the Group 3, £55,000 Bahrain Trophy
run over a mile and five furlongs for three-year-olds. John Gosden saddled
subsequent Group 1 St Leger winner Masked Marvel to victory in 2011 and the
in-form trainer’s Newbury maiden winner Shantaram is among six declared runners.