Owen Burrows hopes Gethin can stake his claim for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Saturday’s William Hill September Stakes at Kempton.
The four-year-old is 6/4 favourite for the weekend feature with Sky Bet and Paddy Power and while all the pre-race focus has been on Constitution Hill, the Lambourn handler feels it’s an equally important afternoon for his horse.
“His last run was in the Eclipse which didn’t really go to plan to be honest and I wouldn’t mind another go at it,” he told Wednesday’s Nick Luck Daily Podcast.
“It is what it is, he came out of it fine and James (Doyle) felt it was quick enough for him that day and it was obviously quick the meeting before when he was second to Ombudsman so we felt like we didn’t want to give him another run on fast ground hence why he didn’t turn up at York and typically it would have suited him up there.
“But we’ve had this race in mind for quite a while now where we obviously didn’t have any ground concerns and if it went well then Arc would still be under serious consideration."
The trainer is confident the Wathnan Racing-owned colt would have the stamina to go up in trip in Paris as part of what could be a very busy autumn.
“He’s a Ghaiyyath out of a Dalakhani mare and for me he’s going to stay well. He was very impressive on really soft ground as a two-year-old and he hasn’t really had that since, to be fair. I’m hoping he’ll be one of those we can flip from a mile-and-a-quarter to a mile-and-a-half if the ground is suitable and I still don’t think we’ve got to the bottom of him by a long way.
“He’s a brute of a horse and physically it hasn’t done him any harm to have a bit of a break since the Eclipse and he could be in for a busy autumn if ground conditions allow.”
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