Kameko may take in Sussex Stakes en route to York

Nick Robson
July 5, 2020 12:30 pm

Juddmonte International is ‘top of the list’ for Balding’s Guineas winner.

Andrew Balding will consider the possibility of running Kameko in the Sussex Stakes before his 2000 Guineas winner heads to the Juddmonte International.

Connections felt Kameko failed to see out the trip when fourth behind Serpentine in the Investec Derby on Saturday, and he will now drop in distance.

While the York race is his big aim, if it is thought the son of Kitten’s Joy needs another race before August 19, he will head to Goodwood and revert to a mile.

Kameko may be joined in Goodwood action by Balding’s Derby runner-up Khalifa Sat, who defied his 50-1 odds at Epsom to finish closest to the all-the-way winner and advertised his St Leger prospects in the process.

“Both are sound this morning,” said the Kingsclere trainer on Sunday.

“Obviously it was slightly disappointing, because we had huge expectations, but that’s why it is such an important and special race – you only get one chance at it, and it is very difficult to win.

“We’ve still got a Guineas winner who hopefully still has the rest of the season ahead of him and some really nice races – he certainly hasn’t lost his ability overnight, that’s for sure.

“The Juddmonte is top of the list, but whether we have a race before that we’ll just see how he is. The Sussex Stakes is a possibility if we felt we needed a run on our way to York in between.”

As for Khalifa Sat, Balding added: “The Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, having won there, is a possibility, the Great Voltigeur too – but they both had hard races yesterday, so it’s probably a little early to say when they’ll definitely run again.”