Balding hope for Beat The Bank to stun Ribchester

TRAINER Andrew Balding has given the green light for Beat The Bank to take on hot favourite Ribchester in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on £4.3million Qipco Champions Day at Ascot. Balding, who secured his second Group One win of the season when Blond Me won the EP Taylor Stakes in Canada on Sunday night, was unsure whether three-year-old Beat The Bank would run in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes after he slammed Sir John Lavery in last month’s Joel Stakes at Newmarket. But the fact Beat The Bank is a gelding must have influenced Balding’s decision to run a horse which carries the colours of Leicester City’s Thai owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. Balding, who will also run Sussex Stakes winner Here Comes When in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, said: ‘Beat The Bank still seems in good form. The fact he is a gelding is significant. If he was a colt, you’d be trying to make sure he did not get beaten. ‘As a gelding, he is going to be around for a while and if it is a bridge too far (on Saturday) it is not the end of the world. He has always looked a handy horse. Before Royal Ascot, we fancied him for the Jersey Stakes. He was not right that day and did not run his race. ‘Apart from that he has done nothing wrong, but this is a different assignment altogether, so he will have to raise his game again.’ Srivaddhanaprabha has been expanding his racing interests and was active at the recent bloodstock sales, where his yearling purchases included a £2.625m daughter of Frankel.