ULYSSES ON COURSE
ULYSSES remains on target for a crack at the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot later this month.
Sir Michael Stoute’s classy four-year-old won the Gordon Richards Stakes on his return to action this season but has been kept fresh for the big meeting.
Regally bred, by Galileo out of an Oaks winner in Light Shift, Ulysses has won over both 10 and 12 furlongs.
Alan Cooper, racing manager for owners Flaxman Stables, said: “The Prince of Wales’s is definitely the plan and all is well with him at the moment.
“Sir Michael has indicated he is happy to stay over 10 furlongs for now but he can do both if we need him to. We know he stays further though.
“It was always the plan to go straight to Ascot. The Brigadier Gerard was looked at but Sir Michael decided it would be better to keep him fresh.”
Jessica Harrington’s exciting juvenile Alpha Centauri, antepost favourite for the Albany Stakes, is set to be another notable runner for the owner.
Cooper said: “She has a lovely stride. For a big filly, she is very well balanced.
“Jessica has stated she wouldn’t want to run her on firm ground but good ground would be fine.”
Another contender in the famous silks will be George Scott’s Gilgamesh in the Britannia Stakes for three-year-olds.
Cooper said: “Gilgamesh will head for the Britannia. He started off at a low level but George has brought him along lovely and he’s now four from five. This requires another step up but he’s going there at the top of his game.”
Meanwhile, trainer Ruth Carr has ruled Sovereign Debt out of the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The eight-year-old grey won his third race on the spin for Carr in the Diomed Stakes at Epsom last week, following the bet365 Mile at Sandown and the AllWeather Mile final at Lingfield.
Carr was thinking about supplementing Sovereign Debt for the Queen Anne but said: “He definitely won’t be going to Royal Ascot, we’re going to keep chipping away at the Group Threes and Group Twos.
“We know he’s capable at that level and it keeps his confidence high.
“He might just be a better horse round a bend than on a straight track at Ascot and there are plenty of other races to look at.
“There’s the Celebration Mile at Goodwood and a race over one-mile-one at York (Strensall)”