Muir eyes Kempton or Newmarket trial for Pyledriver

‘If he gets a mile and a half he could be anything’.

William Muir is set to test the stamina potential of Pyledriver at either Kempton on Newmarket when racing resumes.

Original thoughts for the Harbour Watch colt included the Craven Stakes and Irish 2,000 Guineas, but fixture rescheduling and travel requirements amid the coronavirus pandemic have led to a change of tack – one that could open up exciting options.

Successful first time out, Muir’s charge won the Listed Ascendant Stakes at Haydock in September and was last seen running in the Royal Lodge at Newmarket later that month.

Muir told Sky Sports Racing: “He looks fantastic and he’s doing things like you like of a nice horse – he’s relaxed, he moves great and he’s got a great mind on him.

“All the attributes are there and if he’s got the ability to go to the top he’s got the right mental attitude.”

On hopes of getting beyond a mile, Muir said: “I think if you go back through his mother and the family, they are very good middle-distance horses and have done extremely well at a mile and a quarter, mile and a half. If he gets a mile and a half he could be anything.

“We were going to go to the Craven and go from there, but that has all gone out of the window. We were in the Irish Guineas, but that’s not going to happen. So we’re now looking at going for one of the trials over a mile and a quarter.

“I’m not certain Kempton is the right track, but there’s the Classic Trial which is a possibility on June 3 and there’s also a Newmarket trial over a mile and a quarter (Newmarket Stakes, June 6). We’ll head for one of those, it just depends which one we like at the time.

“We’re in lots of other good races as the season goes on, it just depends what trip we get.”

Muir also has high hopes for Final Option, who won one of her four juvenile starts and finished fourth in the Group Three Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes at Salisbury, where subsequent Cheveley Park winner Millisle was second.

He said: “She’s done fantastic and really is exciting on the gallops. She shows all the speed of her family, but is quite relaxed and you think she might get further.

“We could start her at six and she’s definitely black type, from the family of The Tin Man. If she gets seven or a mile I think the future is bright, because she really has a turn of foot.”

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