Naaqoos
to point for French Guineas
NAAQOOS (Oasis Dream [GB]) will stay in France and contest the Poule d’Essai
des Poulains (Fr-G1), his connections announced Friday. Newmarket’s Two Thousand
Guineas (Eng-G1) was mooted as a live option before his defeat in the Prix
Djebel at Maisons-Laffitte April 10, but the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Fr-G1)
winner will head to Longchamp for the May 10 classic.
“The horse is very well and he has improved since his reappearance, but I
thought it was better to wait for Longchamp, where he can run in his garden,”
trainer Freddy Head told sportinglife.com. “His run at Maisons-Laffitte wasn’t
that bad, but the decision is nothing to do with that. It was always 50-50 and
between myself and the Sheikh (Hamden bin Rashid al Maktoum), we decided it was
better for him to stay in France.”
In other Two Thousand Guineas news:
LORD SHANAKILL (Speightstown) will be taken to Ripon Saturday to gallop on
the track during racing ahead of his Two Thousand Guineas tilt. Conditioner Karl
Burke was forced to sidestep last weekend’s Greenham S. (Eng-G3) at Newbury due
to a temperature, but last year’s Mill Reef S. (Eng-G2) winner and Dewhurst S.
(Eng-G1) runner-up is ready to be geared up for next week’s Newmarket classic.
“He’s over his hiccup at the end of last week and, touch wood, he seems in
tremendous form,” Burke told PA Sport. “He’ll work over seven furlongs with a
couple of lead horses. I was keen to run him on a race day, so that it
replicated race conditions as much as possible as we missed our race at Newbury
last week. He will need this piece of work as he missed two or three days last
week.”
EVASIVE (Elusive Quality) has suffered another setback ahead of Two Thousand
Guineas, but his connections are still expecting him to make the race. Having
been ruled out of the major trials with a foot abscess, the Horris Hill S.
(Eng-G3) scorer was found to be lame after exercise on Friday.
“Sir Michael (Stoute) has reported that the horse took one lame step outside
his box after returning from his two canters, but does not think it represents
any long-term problem,” Cheveley Park Stud’s Managing Director Chris Richardson
explained to the Racing Post “I understand he was soon walking sound
again and that, all being well, he remains on target for the Guineas.”