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It may be Irish Champions Weekend but all eyes will be drawn to the 6f Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday afternoon with Shaquille bidding for a third straight Group 1.
Unbeaten in four starts this season, Julie Camacho's star sprinter made the successful transition into open company when taking the Group 1 July Cup in comfortable style. It has almost become a trademark that Shaquille rears as he leaves the stalls, but it is a quirk that will be costing the colt valuable lengths at the start – a fact that Julie Camacho is very aware of. He has undergone stall training in the interim and will be reunited with jockey James Doyle in his bid for a Group 1 hat-trick.
"The build-up for him has been smooth and we obviously did some stalls work with him a couple of weeks ago with Craig and Jake, and James [Doyle, jockey] came along," said assistant trainer Steve Brown.
"He's a very straightforward horse at home, he doesn't cause us any problems and his work has been to its usual standard, I would say. It's been what we expected really.
"He looks really fit and well and everything has gone to plan. We planned four good bits of work, which he's done, and we haven't missed a day with him – I don't think we can have any gripes about his preparation at all.
"He seems adaptable on different tracks. I suppose the nearest thing to Haydock we've had so far is probably Newbury and everything there went according to plan, so we hope for the same on Saturday."
The up-and-coming Mill Stream will be stepping into Group 1 company for the first time following two comfortable wins in France. Victorious in the Listed Prix Moonlight Cloud on very soft ground at the start of August, the three-year-old backed it up with a success in the Group 3 Prix de Meutry at Deauville, ahead of the re-opposing Garrus.
"Mill Stream has come out of his Deauville race in good order, so we have decided to take the opportunity to run him again while he is good form as there are no other options for him until Champions Day," said trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam.
Although Joe Fanning has been declared for the ride on Karl Burke's Spycatcher, it appears unlikely that the Prix Maurice de Gheest second will run.
"This has been the target for a while now, but it's highly unlikely that he'll run looking at the forecast," said Highclere's racing manager Harry Herbert, earlier in the week.
"You never know, if a thunderstorm hits or something happens before declaration time then we may reconsider, but we need to protect him.
"He's in at Ascot on Champions Day and we've got to be patient. He's a wonderful horse who is improving all the time, but at this stage I'd say we'd struggle to run him on Saturday unless something out of the ordinary happened with regards to the weather forecast."
William Haggas' Sacred is an interesting contender dropped back to six furlongs, having finished fifth in the Group 2 City of York Stakes behind Kinross on her latest outing. The five-year-old mare remains completely unexposed at six furlongs after only three attempts, but showed a liking for the trip when second behind Khaadem in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.
At longer prices, Group 1-winning juvenile Lezoo returned to better order when taking the Listed Hopeful Stakes at Newmarket's July course over six furlongs. It was her first success since a victory in
the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes last year and connections will be hopeful that the win has boosted the filly's confidence.
"It was nice to see because when they dance as many dances as she did last year, it is tough to get them to do it again," said trainer Ralph Beckett, reflecting on the Hopeful success.
"Things then didn't go well in the spring and mid-summer. Timeform thought she ran to a mark of 110 and that is good whatever way you look at it. To make her a Stakes winner at three was good as well.
"I don't know how it will pan out now but having won a Listed race, it makes sense to go back to a Group One on a track that will play to the strengths of her, and we will go from there.
"If we get beat, we get beat, but it is more that this is the right race for her. If she was to go and finish in the first four, that would be great as well."
WIN: SHAQUILLE
PLACE: LEZOO
