One of this seasons leading sprinters Ten Sovereigns may miss the Sprint Cup at Haydock this weekend due to the ground being soft with plenty of rain planned ahead of Saturday's meeting.
Aidan O'Brien's three year old raced over a mile in his first run of the season in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and never stayed the trip meaning he had to go back down to his beloved six furlongs.
He went to Royal Ascot in the Commonwealth Cup where again he went off favourite and under delivered but in his next start he showed his two year old potential and finally got off the mark for the season reversing some big form when winning the July Cup at Newmarket.
With how much pace he showed in the Group One event O'Brien said he is the fastest horse he has ever trained which is a huge statement and he was supplemented for the five furlong Nunthorpe Stakes at the York Ebor meeting.
It didn't quite pay off with the race showing that six furlongs is his optimum trip and with the Sprint Cup coming around fairly fast it looked a perfect opportunity to get back on track but now with the rain coming it looks like Ten Sovereigns will miss the feature event at Haydock.
Aidan O'Brien said: “I would say we wouldn’t run on soft ground. There is rain forecast and that is not good.
“He is a real fast ground daisy cutter. If he doesn’t run, Fairyland might run instead. That’s what we are thinking at the moment.”
Looking back on the Nunthope and how the colt out of No Nay Never performed the trainer added: “He was in the stalls a long time, it was very warm and Ryan (Moore) said he felt lethargic when the stalls opened. If you are lethargic when you are running against Battaash you suffer.
“It just happened so quick. He didn’t hardly blow after the race. Five furlongs, as you know, is an art. You can have all the pace and ability in the world but it is an art of hitting those gates and you have to have quick feet.”
O’Brien went on to say Ten Sovereigns could head down under towards the end of the year to finish his career
.“The Everest is in Sydney and I think two thirds of the time the ground has been soft there. If it is soft he won’t run there, but he could go down to Melbourne, where he might get better ground,” said the Ballydoyle handler.
“There are a couple of sprints down in Melbourne. I wouldn’t think he will stay in training next year.”