3 minute read

With long-range weather forecasts looking dry around the Ascot area, Jim Crowley will be hoping Mostahdaf can take his chance in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot later in the month.

The high-class five-year-old created a massive impression when winning the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot and proved that result to be no fluke when downing Paddington in the Juddmonte International on the Knavesmire.

Speaking with Sky Sports Racing, Jim Crowley said: "If the ground is nice, I'm sure he will take his chance,"

"The weather can change between now and then, but he'd go on good to soft, he has done in the past.

Connections could reroute to the Breeders' Cup Turf should conditions become unsuitable.

"I think if it came up very testing then he might reroute to a Breeders' Cup or something, so that's in the pipeline, but we'd love to get him there [Ascot] on good ground because it's a great race and it would suit him, obviously, as a course and distance winner. It's a very important race.

"We'll take one step at a time and see if he goes to Ascot first, but that would be exciting if he went to America. It would be over a mile and a half, but he's won over that distance and it's over a tight two turns.

"He won out in Saudi and that is a similar sort of tight track to Santa Anita, and he loves fast ground, so he's got options and it's great he's been able to show us this season how good he really is."