Count Octave enjoys a quiet day on Side Hill

Meanwhile, connections of Red Verdon were on hand to watch the son of Lemon Drop Kid (Kingmambo) have a single canter around Side Hill, following on from his gallop with the Charlie Fellowes-trained Prince Of Arran (Shirocco) on the Al Bahathri yesterday.

“He’s come out of yesterday’s gallop well and has been his usual cheeky self this morning,” said Victoria Hayter, assistant trainer to Ed Dunlop.

“He will go on any ground and we think it will really suit him out there (Australia). He’ll wear blinkers, which were off for his last run.
“He has a lot of class this horse. He was fifth in a Derby and probably doesn’t have enough speed to compete with the best at that trip.”

Elsewhere in quarantine, Michael Moroney’s new acquisitions Sound Check (Londo) and Marathon Man (So You Think) exercised on the Al Bahathri gallop, with the latter not sighted since his narrow defeat at the hands of fellow Spring Carnival contender Best Solution (Kodiac) in the Preis Von Berlin (Gr 1, 2400m) last month.