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Cox Plate winner on hunt for third Group 1
Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) winner Sir Dragonet (Camelot) will shoot for his third success at Group 1 level when he lines up in the Doomben Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) on Saturday and co-trainer Ciaron Maher is confident the track will suit him.
The son of Camelot (Montjeu) added a second elite level race to his record when he landed the Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m) on April 3 and was last seen running third in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) on April 17.
"The Queen Elizabeth was not high pressure, nor was the Ranvet, and he needs that sort of tempo and pressure to win at 2000 metres," Maher told Racing.com
"At Doomben, he might get that as it generates a similar style of pressure race to The Valley, where he ran away with the Cox Plate over the same trip.
"His best trip is probably a mile-and-a-half (2400m), so he needs a strong gallop and if he gets it, he'll be very hard to beat.
"He had a nice gallop with Southern France on Saturday morning and he's in great shape."
Sir Dragonet's stablemate Explosive Jack (Jakkalberry) will also be out to secure his third Group 1 when he runs in the Queensland Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) on May 29.
"Jack's in really good order," Maher said. "He'll go up to Queensland and we'll work it out from here, but it's fairly positive at this stage."