Odds-on favourite Paddington is all set to bid for a fifth successive Group One win this season in Wednesday’s Juddmonte International at York.
Aidan O’Brien’s new superstar will step back up in trip to an extended 10 furlongs having won the Eclipse at Sandown over a similar distance.
He proved his versatility last time out by dropping down to a mile for the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood where he made all the running.
From a humble beginning this season in a Naas handicap, he is now the best of his generation by some distance.
“He’s an amazing horse really and is progressing from run to run, that’s all he has done all year,” O’Brien told Sky Sports Racing.
“We thought he was a very good two-year-old, he went to Ascot first time out but he got stage fright and just never performed so we gave him a good break. He went to the Curragh after that and won very easily.
“Because of that we left him alone. He was trained for the Classics in the spring but we started as low as we could because we had a lot of horses to get out.
“Ryan (Moore) was very impressed with him, as you know Ryan doesn’t say much but he was very impressed with him in the Sussex. He would have preferred a lead but there was nobody else prepared to so that was why he went on.
“John (Magnier) always felt on pedigree he would get a mile and a half. He went to the Eclipse for his first run over a mile and a quarter so this is a little bit further on a flatter track. It will be interesting to see and we’ll take it race by race with him at the moment.”
Paddington, Mostahdaf and Desert Crown all feature among eight confirmations for what promises to be a blockbuster contest.
Prince of Wales’s Stakes hero Mostahdaf heads the opposition for John and Thady Gosden.
The five-year-old was a four-length winner at Royal Ascot and he is set to be partnered for the first time by Frankie Dettori, as regular rider Jim Crowley serves a 20-day whip suspension.
Last year’s Derby hero Desert Crown was forced to sidestep the Prince of Wales’s due to a late setback, but he is in the mix following a satisfactory piece on work on Wednesday morning.
He could be joined by fellow Sir Michael Stoute-trained runner Bay Bridge, who finished fifth behind Mostahdaf at Ascot.
The Gosden have a second contender in Nashwa, winner of the Falmouth Stakes and third in the Nassau last time out, while the Mostahdaf colours of Shadwell are also represented by Alflaila, although it is unlikely both their horses will run.
O’Brien also has Point Lonsdale in contention while the prospective field is completed by The Foxes, who finished second in the Belmont Derby for Andrew Balding last time out.
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