Prince Of India could have quick return to action

Saturday’s Hungerford Stakes runner-up Prince Of India could be set for a swift return to action in this weekend’s Hopeful Stakes at Newmarket.

A creditable sixth as an 80-1 shot for the July Cup last month, the four-year-old proved that was no fluke by finishing best of the rest behind the Clive Cox-trained Coppull over seven furlongs at Group Two level at Newbury.

The son of Wootton Bassett has not managed to get his head in front since scoring on Shergar Cup day at Ascot last summer, so Botti will consider lowering his sights to Listed level on Saturday in the hope of recording a confidence boosting win.

Reflecting on his Newbury effort, the Newmarket-based Italian said: “He ran very well. It’s a shame they sort of split into two groups and it turned out he was on the wrong side of the track.

“The winner is a good horse and it probably showed up the form of the July Cup. We were maybe a touch unlucky when we finished behind the winner at Newmarket, but they showed the same form.

“I was pleased with the run and I would say a stiff six furlongs is probably his optimum trip and he’s actually been entered this morning in the Listed race at Newmarket on Saturday. We’ll track the race and see, but we know he likes the July course and likes fast ground.

“We put him in on Saturday because this year he’s not been lucky at all and he’s come out of Newbury bouncing and looks great. He doesn’t have to travel so we said we’d put him in and decide towards the middle of the week.”

Another Botti inmate to run with credit in defeat in the last week was Rocket Boy, who confirmed his surprise debut win at Yarmouth with a staying-on third in the Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury.

“He definitely showed he stayed a mile and the jockey (Marco Ghiani) felt the ground was a bit loose on top as obviously they’d watered well. He felt he changed his lead a few times early on because of that, but I put it down to inexperience,” the trainer added.

“Once he got him in top gear he finished strongly, so he’s a nice horse and he will improve again from that run.

“We’ve got a couple of options – we put him in the Royal Lodge (Newmarket) and he’s also in at Doncaster (Champagne Stakes) and there’s the Listed race at Haydock in early September (Ascendant Stakes).

“We’ll see which one we go for, but I would say I don’t think he’d want the ground too soft.”