Connections of impressive King’s Stand winner Scenic Blast have opted to bypass the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on Saturday, preferring instead to bid for further Group 1 glory in July’s £400,000 Darley July Cup.
The Australian sprinter could hardly have been more impressive on the opening day of Royal Ascot and many had presumed he would now attempt a tilt at the second leg of the Global Sprint Challenge. However, connections have elected to wait until Newmarket where they will step him up to six furlongs.
Trainer of Scenic Blast, Dan Morton said on Wednesday: “Scenic Blast has come out of yesterday’s race really good. He won’t run on Saturday. I had the Golden Jubilee Stakes as a back-stop, just in case, but he will now head to Newmarket for the Darley July Cup next month.
“It was a great achievement by the horse to win the King’s Stand Stakes. Everybody had a pretty good night celebrating last night.”
Steven Arnold, Scenic Blast’s delighted jockey added: “He travelled really well and I actually got there too soon.
“When he’s fresh, he is probably a better horse over five furlongs and he was spot-on today. Once he has a race under his belt, then he’s not as fresh and so the six furlongs of the Darley July Cup should be ideal for him.”
As many as 43 horses were left entered in the contest, including Shadwell Middle Park winner Bushranger. Trained by David Wachman, the dual Group 1 winning colt is also entered in Saturday’s Golden Jubilee and David Wachman admitted on Wednesday that nothing was confimed: “We’ll see how he gets on in the Golden Jubilee Stakes on Saturday but he has been left in the Darley July Cup for a reason and we’ll see how he gets on."
J J The Jet Plane is the current favourite for the Golden Jubilee, best priced, 7/2 with William Hill.