6/11/13 - Although he missed his expected seasonal return in the listed Saval Beg Stakes at the Curragh recently due to the unusually quick ground at the home of Irish Flat racing, last year’s Group 2 Goodwood Cup winner, Saddler’s Rock, is expected to be back in action soon and bid for the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup before trying to replicate his 2012 win at the ‘Glorious’ meeting.

The John Oxx-trained son of super-stallion, Saddler’s Wells, ran a tremendous race in last year’s showcase Ascot Gold Cup, beaten just three-quarters-of-a-length into third place by Godolphin’s Colour Vision, a run that appeared to put him spot on for his following outing at Glorious Goodwood. He was sent off a well supported 2/1 favourite Glorious Goodwood bet for the Group 2 Artemis Cup.

Given a fine tactical ride by Johnny Murtagh, the five-year-old handled the undulations of the Sussex track particularly well and made good headway to lead at the furlong pole before running-on well under pressure to see off the determined effort of Marcus Tregoning’s Askar Tau by a length.

After disappointing on his two subsequent starts at York and Doncaster, the Irish stayer put up a better effort on heavy ground in France to finish a close fourth to Molly Malone in the Group 1 Qatar Prix De Cadran, and was not disgraced in two runs at Meydan this winter in tough staying events.

Reported to have appreciated the spring break and be ready to run, Saddler’s Rock is currently an 8/1 second-favourite for the Ascot Gold Cup after which – win, lose or draw – Glorious Goodwood betting outlets are expecting him to return to the race to follow up last year’s success on a track that clearly seems to bring out the best in him.