Charlie Appleby intends to run both Nations Pride and El Cordobes in the Grade One Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.
The former has a fine record in North America having won the 2022 Saratoga Derby, 2023 Canadian International and 2024 Arlington Million. He landed the Singspiel Stakes at Meydan in March but hasn’t run since beating only one home in the Dubai Turf the following month.
El Cordobes has been campaigned domestically so far this summer, winning a handicap at the Guineas Meeting and then posting a career best to beat Wimbledon Hawkeye by two lengths in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at the July Meeting.
Appleby told the Godolphin website: “Nations Pride hasn’t run over a mile and a half for a while, although he won the Jockey Club Derby over the distance as a three-year-old before running well behind Rebel’s Romance in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
“We have campaigned him over shorter trips over the past couple of seasons, but I am hoping that stepping up in trip can get him back on track. He is a multiple Grade One winner and brings plenty of experience of racing in North America to the table. If he runs up to his best form, he will certainly be a big player.
“El Cordobes put up a couple of decent efforts at Meydan earlier in the year and has progressed nicely in the UK. He gets a mile and a half well and will enjoy the quick ground at Saratoga. Running here will hopefully give us a steer as to the rest of his season and he looks an interesting contender.”
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