Trawlerman is on course to defend his crown in Thursday’s Gold Cup at Royal Ascot following some slightly unusual preparatory measures.
The Godolphin-owned eight-year-old won all four UK starts in 2025, including a memorable seven-length defeat of Illinois in the Thursday highlight at the Royal meeting last summer, but he has not had a prep run this time around and joint-trainer John Gosden has revealed the horse has had one or two issues.
“He’s had a weird problem with his eyes,” Gosden told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast.
“He becomes very sensitive of light and strangely enough he’s been going out and doing a lot of his exercise in ski-goggles, which he is going to be allowed to wear in the paddock and canter down to the start. They won't let him race in them, understandably.
"He's not going to enjoy if it's a sunny day! But once they're racing he'll be focused on the racing and won't be focused on anything else.
🚨 This is not a joke!
— Nick Luck (@nickluck) June 12, 2026
John Gosden has revealed that TRAWLERMAN will be sporting a pair of ski goggles in the prelims ahead of his bid for back-to-back Ascot Gold Cups:
👇https://t.co/NesW48pESz pic.twitter.com/V8mliMwACc
"That is the plan at the moment, his work has been good and we did a strong piece with him the other day.
“But it’s not the kind of race you turn up in without a run, two and a half miles is the toughest race there, and to that extent it leaves him at a disadvantage. Having said that, he’s full of enthusiasm.
"It's a tall order but it'd be a pity if he didn't run. This is a race with no hiding places."
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