Jim Goldie revealed that the Nunthorpe Stakes and the Flying Five are next for American Affair before they consider international options.
American Affair progressed markedly in 2024 as his handicap rating rose by 24 lb but he really burst onto the scene in 2025, winning another two handicaps before famously claiming the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.
He was forced to miss the remainder of that season through injury and the current campaign started slowly but American Affair was back to his best in the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood last week and Goldie revealed it was a satisfying result as they'd been working towards the race.
"It was quite a sweet result because we'd been having an argument with the horse because he's been wanting to do that all his career," he told the Nick Luck Daily podcast, "and we've been trying to restrain him thinking he would nae get home if he went so hard.
"So, we decided if we were going to let him rock 'n' roll, so to speak, we'd do it at Goodwood down the hill. It was quite a remarkable second furlong, he was sub 10 seconds which is pretty quick and he kept it rolling right to the line.
"He nearly broke Battaash's course record which was pretty impressive. Battaash was a fantastic horse so maybe he should keep his course record; there were three of them near his course record.
"You don't always get it right but when you do, it's the satisfaction rather than the emotion. Whatever it was we got it right. It wasn't an accident, we had planned it and were gearing towards that. The only negative was that Paul [Mulrennan] threw his stick away but it didn't really matter."
Goldie admitted that future running plans 'were a nice problem to have' but connections have decided to save themselves one headache by not entering American Affair for the Prix de l'Abbaye at ParisLongchamp's Arc meeting.
"I purposely left him out of the Abbaye because when you're entered, you're inclined to run; if we feel that strong we'll supplement. It gives us a bit of freedom.
"He looks like a five furlong horse so the Nunthorpe is obvious, we'll probably go to the Flying Five and then we'll have a see whether that's him or supplement for the Abbaye or go to America but it's a big ask to try and go out there."
Both the Nunthorpe Stakes and the Flying Five are automatic qualifiers for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint but Goldie poured cold water on the idea of going stateside.
"We knew what to expect at Goodwood, our horses generally run well there but America is a different ball game," he continued.
"He's probably capable of playing their game but it's around a bend; he was won around a bend, it was at Wetherby, but at the time I wasn't thinking I was training for America!
"It's a long way to go and fail to trot up. You need to be 100% your horse is as sound as can be. Similar to the Melbourne Cup. Last year's Ebor winner [Ethical Diamond] ended up in America because they knew he would nae pass the vet because he's got a screw in his leg.
"Well, American Affair has nae got a screw in his leg but it was well documented last year that we did bone scans, we did MRIs so we had a good look at his leg and the Americans might decide 'don't like that MRI', maybe want another MRI so it opens up a whole can of worms.
"If we win the Nunthorpe we'll think about it but we probably have to do that before we think of going to America."
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