Burdett Road to test Gold Cup claims at Sandown
James Owen's dual-purpose star has already tasted success at the Royal meeting when trained by Michael Bell in 2023, but will now attempt to tee-up a shot at the Gold Cup in this Group Three event after a fine season over obstacles.
Owen said: 'We're 100 per cent looking forward to seeing him back on the Flat and he comes off a great season over hurdles.
'We've given him a little bit of a freshen up, his work has been good and he's fit and raring to go. He's got a Gold Cup entry at Royal Ascot and this will be his trial.'
There was a change to the Gold Cup picture when Coolmore announced the retirement of Aidan O'Brien's dual winner Kyprios on Tuesday, but Owen retains plenty of respect for the division as he looks forward to an exciting spell on the level with his admirable five-year-old.
Owen added: 'The Gold Cup has opened up a little bit but will still be a very competitive race and that is the aim. Hopefully a good run tomorrow and then we can bounce into the Gold Cup.
'He's a horse we can hopefully travel with later in the season if he clicks back on the Flat. He looks to have matured a lot and we hope he can run a big race.'
Also looking to put himself in the Gold Cup equation is John and Thady Gosden's Trawlerman, who has a fine record at Ascot and was only a length adrift of Kyprios when second in last year's Gold Cup.
He finished fifth in the Dubai Gold Cup in April and his training team hope this outing will have him fully primed for his main assignment next month.
'He ran a solid enough race over in Dubai and he has come back from that very well,' said Thady Gosden.
'He has obviously had a little freshen up since then and he is going here ahead of a trip to the Royal meeting.
'It makes sense to give him one run before Ascot as it will sharpen him up and it will bring him on in terms of fitness as well. Hopefully he can run a nice race and go back to the Ascot Gold Cup in good order.'
Al Nayyir was further behind Trawlerman in eighth in Dubai but trainer Tom Clover is inclined to put a line through that performance as he makes his first British start of the campaign.
Clover said: 'It didn't really happen for him in Dubai, they went no gallop that evening and he over-raced and couldn't make up ground off a slow pace.
'I think it's only fair to put a line through that and he's come back and is looking well and training nicely.
'We're taking on some nice horses and you can make a case for any of them and you'd love to think he's up to winning at this level. We're looking forward to getting him out.'
Al Nayyir is another with a ticket to the Gold Cup waiting to be stamped, but his handler is minded to take one step at a time despite having already contemplated his charge's suitability for an extra half-mile at Ascot.
Clover added: 'We'll get Sandown out of the way first and if he goes well, then we can think about the Gold Cup afterwards.
'If he goes well here we'd have to have a serious think about it and I would love to see him racing over a distance. If you take out his runs in the Middle East this winter, last year he was very strong at the line and my feeling is he is a horse who would stay well.
'It would be lovely if we do get to the stage we can think about the Gold Cup and although the extra half-mile would be an unknown, he has certainly been strong at the finish in his races and it would be interesting to see.'
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