Kingmax to drop in distance at Royal Ascot

Jersey and Britannia Stakes in the mix for Dante fifth.

David Loughnane is planning to drop Kingmax back in trip following the three-year-old’s first attempt at tackling 10 furlongs in the Dante at York.

The Kingman colt headed into the recognised Derby trial on the back of a respectable fourth in the Craven and his handler thought the step up in trip would be the making of him.

However, Kingmax faded in the closing stages and could only finish fifth, beaten eight and a half lengths, behind Cazoo Derby favourite Desert Crown.

Loughnane now plans to drop the Amo Racing-owned colt back down to a maximum distance of a mile for his next outing, which will be at Royal Ascot.

“It was a good run. I was adamant going into the race that he would be a better horse over a mile and a quarter, but as horses often do, he proved me wrong,” said Loughnane.

“He just didn’t see out the trip, so we’ll go back down in trip now and head to Royal Ascot. He’ll have entries in the Jersey and the Britannia, he has an entry already in the St James’s Palace, but most likely he will be going to the Britannia or Jersey.”

Amo Racing have another fine prospect housed at Loughnane’s Helshaw Grange stables in the form of Queen Olly.

The two-year-old daughter of No Nay Never burst on to the scene with a taking victory at York and is as short as 6-1 with Skybet for the Albany Stakes at the Royal meeting, which will be her next outing.

“I’ve loved her since day one. I said the first day I sat on her when she came into the yard that she was a Royal Ascot filly and I genuinely believe she is,” continued Loughnane.

“She’s just franked that opinion even more for me with the performance at York. The race didn’t really go to suit early doors, she had to muscle her way out and she pulled well clear going to the line.

“She wouldn’t turn a hair after the race and it is all systems go for the Albany with her.”

The Irishman is operating at upwards of 25 per cent with his youngsters in the early part of the season and provided an update on some more of his two-year-old string, including Carmela, who caught the eye when fifth from a troubled passage in the Marygate Stakes on the Knavesmire.

He said: “Carmela got murdered coming out the gate, she got wiped out and Richard (Kingscote) had to sit and suffer and probably got stuck behind a couple of slow horses and the gaps just came pretty late.

“Richard’s not been too hard on her and she flew home and I’ve got no doubt she would have been well and truly involved with the first two home had she had a clear passage.

“We’ll probably look for one more race with her and aim to get her out in the next fortnight and if she goes and wins nicely, we’ve still got the Queen Mary in mind for her.

“Maxi King is a lovely horse, I feel he will be better over seven (furlongs). The only thing that got him beat at Nottingham was a lack of experience. The winner had a run under his belt and knew his job and was just a bit smarter away. I think he’ll be going close or winning next time, but we’ll go and win his maiden and see where he is from there.

“We have a great bunch of two-year-olds, both with Amo and with plenty of other great owners. Absolutelyflawless is two from two now after winning the Lily Agnes and she might head for the Hilary Needler or something like that and we’ve got a lovely team of horses to look forward to over the year.”

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