Logician expected to play leading role this season

PA Sport Reporters
April 22, 2020 1:30 pm

Leger hero potentially an ‘important horse’ for Juddmonte operation in 2020.

Connections of Logician are hopeful the St Leger hero can make his mark as a four-year-old this season.

The John Gosden-trained colt stretched his unbeaten record to five at Doncaster in September, stylishly accounting for Sir Ron Priestley by two and a quarter lengths under Frankie Dettori.

The grey son of Frankel suffered a serious infection during the winter, but is reported to have made good progress.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, told Sky Sports Racing: “We’re very excited to run him as a four-year-old. Obviously it was Prince Khalid’s decision to keep him in training and it was an important one, because having won the St Leger everyone felt there was more to come from him.

Frankie Dettori was in flying form with Locician at Doncaster (Clint Hughes/PA)

“He had this stomach infection over the winter which was treated, it set him back a bit as it was a serious infection, but he seems fine at the moment and is in light exercise. Whatever happens (with resumption of racing) his season would not have started very early anyway.

“Potentially we are extremely hopeful for him. Just where and what he might do, I think the way he won the St Leger we know he stays a mile and three-quarters and is pretty comfortable at a mile and a half – whether a bit shorter would be in his compass it’s hard to tell at this stage.

“In terms of races one would never know, he would have to show us he was in good enough form and of course the races would have to be available for him, so we may not have a wide choice. He has the potential to be an important horse. Whether he meets Enable or not will be up to Prince Khalid.”

Like Logician, the mighty Enable is also reported to be doing well, with all roads hopefully leading to another crack at an historic third victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October.

Grimthorpe said: “It is incredibly difficult to get one horse to run in one race on particular date in the year. Obviously that date at ParisLongchamp has been in Enable’s diary for the last three years and also this year as well.

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“Everything will be geared towards that particular race for her and how that gets played I don’t think in terms of how John would train her this (suspension of racing) is not making a vast difference at the moment.

“Equally she needs to be in the best possible shape come October, but of course how she gets there is very much in the laps of the gods. All I can say is she is in very good form. She is cantering up Warren Hill most days, she seems happy and has had no issues, so from that point of view we are very content.”

Grimthorpe also reported the Juddmonte team to be happy with the Roger Charlton-trained Quadrilateral, long-time favourite for the Qipco 1000 Guineas.

The fillies’ Classic is set to be run in early June this year, should a best-case scenario for the resumption of racing come together.

Grimthorpe said: “On the whole the 1000 and 2000 are the last two-year-old trials if you like, but she was good enough to win the Fillies’ Mile, so she isn’t that backwards. She is certainly a strong filly and from that point of view we were looking forward to the 1000 Guineas in May.

1000 Guineas favourite Quadrilateral is reported to be doing well (Tess Derry/PA)

“Equally so with all fillies, especially with the summer and everything else, opportunities become fewer and fewer at times and I think to concertina her season it doesn’t necessarily work in her favour.

“The real question is where we might have gone had things gone well in the Guineas. Would she be a mile-and-a-half horse or a mile-and-a-quarter horse? From that point of view those things need to be answered earlier rather than later, because then you can plan the campaign.

“I saw her before the lockdown, she had grown a small amount but pleasingly she had filled out and was strong and I’ve seen pictures and videos of her fairly regularly and all the pointers seem very positive on her.

“There’s some talk of the British horses racing for the British Classics, the Irish in Ireland and the French in France, certainly there’s some talk of that, at least initially, but I don’t know where we are with that and that’s certainly not gospel by any means.”