Mubtaker ready for Newbury return
Mubtaker looks likely to try to maintain his tremendous record at Newbury in Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes.
Marcus Tregoning’s eight-year-old has taken the last three renewals of the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at the Berkshire track and from his other three Newbury outings, he has won twice and finished second once.
Mubtaker has also been second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe but has only run once this season, finishing third to New Morning in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in late May.
“Every year, Mubtaker comes right around July or August, and that’s the case once more,” Tregoning told the Racing Post.
“I’ve yet to finalise plans with Sheikh Hamdan, but there’s every chance he’ll run in the King George. We know he can handle fast ground.”
Tregoning also confirmed that Fillies’ Mile fifth Shohrah would make her seasonal reappearance at Glorious Goodwood next week.
Meanwhile, Policy Maker’s owner Alec Wildenstein is hoping that a number of good performances by French horses recently will augur well for the King George.
Shawanda’s runaway success in last Sunday’s Irish Oaks was one of the reasons why Wildenstein decided to supplement Policy Maker for the mile and a half Group One.
The five-year-old was second to Alkaased in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on his latest outing.
Wildenstein said: “I wouldn’t be putting up €100,000 if I didn’t think the horse wouldn’t run well.
“It is difficult to say how strong the field is but when you see how the filly of the Aga Khan won it makes the English horses not look so good.”
