Canford Cliffs on course for Queen Anne; Rite of Passage faces crucial gallop

Canford Cliffs on course for Queen Anne; Rite of Passage

faces crucial gallop

CANFORD CLIFFS (Tagula) delighted connections with his spin on

Kempton's Polytrack ahead of Tuesday's Queen Anne S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot. The four-time Group 1 scorer

was partnered by Richard Hughes.

"He

worked superbly and we're very pleased with him," Richard Hannon Jr. said

afterward. "He was fairly lit up this

morning -- he wasn't silly, but he was hard on the bridle. That's just how we'd

like to see him and we are going flat out now for the race and for Goldikova

(Ire) (Anabaa)."

Last seen winning the Lockinge S. (Eng-G1) on May 14, the four-year-old

has pleased with his subsequent progress.

"He has improved physically from

Newbury and we knew that he would going into the race," trainer Richard Hannon's

son and assistant added. "He will have to improve, as he's taking on a lot

better horses. He'll bit a lot fitter, but he'll have to travel well at Ascot as

I imagine they'll go very hard early on. I think he is our best chance of a

winner at the meeting."

Hannon Jr. also revealed that last year's Prix Jean Prat (Fr-G1) scorer DICK

TURPIN (Arakan) might line up alongside his stablemate despite a poor latest showing when last of nine behind Goldikova in

the Prix d'Ispahan (Fr-G1) at Longchamp on May 22.

"We've left him in, as we've done his

blood and tracheal wash and they are OK, so we'll discuss it with (owner) John

Manley first."

Also pointing for the Queen Anne is the Aidan O'Brien-trained dual Group 1

winner CAPE BLANCO (Galileo [Ire]), though the four-year-old was left in for

Wednesday's Prince of Wales's S. (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot.

O'Brien has also declared Michael Tabor's Huxley S. (Eng-G3) winner AWAIT THE

DAWN (Giant's Causeway) and Group 1 scorer JAN VERMEER (Montjeu [Ire]), who was

third in last year's Irish Derby (Ire-G1). Like Cape Blanco, however, Await the

Dawn will most likely skip the Prince of Wales's in favor of running in

Saturday's Hardwicke S. (Eng-G2).

Australian champion SO YOU THINK (High Chaparral [Ire]) on also featured among the 11

six-day acceptors for the Prince of Wales's.

Earlier this week, part-owner Dato Tan Chin Nam had summed up the sense of

growing excitement surrounding the five-year-old's transfer to the major stages

of Europe when saying, "So You Think has been challenged in Australia and shown

himself to be the tiger. He deserves his chance to see if he is the biggest

tiger in world racing."

Godolphin has three in the Prince of Wales's list, headed by Dubai Sheema Classic

(UAE-G1) hero REWILDING (Tiger Hill), while Henry Cecil is set to run Khalid

Abdullah's triple Group 1 winner TWICE OVER (GB) (Observatory) and Elie

Lellouche will be represented by Ecurie Wildenstein's Prix Ganay

(Fr-G1) scorer PLANTEUR (Danehill Dancer).

Last year's Gold Cup (Eng-G1) winner RITE OF PASSAGE (Giant's Causeway) faces

a crucial gallop Friday morning as trainer Dermot Weld faces a decision on his

participation in Thursday's renewal of the Royal Ascot fixture.

Having suffered a setback since his return third in the May 29 Saval Beg S. at Leopardstown, Dr. Ronan Lambe's

seven-year-old was on Thursday described as "50-50" to make the line-up.

"I'll

work the horse under Pat Smullen (Friday) morning and after that, we'll check

him out and go through him in detail and make a decision either (Friday) or

Saturday," Weld said. "It's one of the horrible things of owning and training horses -- you get

everything right for a year and then something goes wrong. We've been very

fortunate down the years, but this was a big blow as he ran so well in his prep

race and there was going to be a lot of improvement in him. We're dealing with

the problem and he's 50-50. If there's the slightest doubt, he won't run."