Astro King up for the Cup again and out to extend good York record

Astro King will strive to go one better than last year when he lines up for the John Smith’s Cup at York on Saturday.

The gelding, trained by Daniel and Claire Kubler, missed out by just a nose last season when Amy Murphy’s Pride Of America was declared the winner following a photo finish.

After that performance, the runner-up ended his season strongly, winning the Finale Handicap on his return to York next time out and then going on to land the Cambridgeshire before two creditable runs in the Middle East.

This year, the bay started his season on a good note, finishing second when a length behind Ottoman Fleet in the Group Three Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket.

After that, he was fourth at Group Two level in the Jockey Club Stakes at the same track, following which he headed to the Royal meeting for a luckless beaten run in the Wolferton Stakes.

He now returns to handicap level on the Knavesmire, where he looks to get the verdict this time under a top-weight allocation when partnered by Richard Kingscote.

“He went very close in the race last year and he ticks a lot of boxes, so fingers crossed he can run a similar race this time,” said Daniel Kubler.

“He’s come out of Ascot well, that’s why we’re going to York with him, and he’s a course and distance winner.

“He was only beaten a nose in a very close photo finish in this race last year, I just hope it dries out, as he wouldn’t want it too soft.”

Haunted Dream was the third-placed horse behind Pride Of America and Astro King in the race last season and will take part again for new connections, having been purchased by Wathnan Racing and sent to Hamad Al-Jehani.

The handler has relocated from Qatar to train in Britain and having recently got off the mark with his first winner on these shores, he is now looking for a first York victory with a horse in good form.

Haunted Dream was second at Royal Ascot in the Wolferton, finishing behind Israr in a smart run that now leads to a planned journey to Yorkshire.

“It was a good performance at Royal Ascot. We finished second, we didn’t win, but we had a nice performance from him,” said Al-Jehani.

“He was beaten by a nice horse. I was very pleased with him. He finished second in a Listed race and printed his name as a black-type horse, so we were very happy.

“It was the plan before that to go to the John Smith’s. He finished third (at York) last year with his previous trainer. If he can show a similar performance, hopefully we will have a nice chance there.

“We are really excited to go to York with a nice horse for the first time. It’s really important for us. Hopefully we will have a nice experience.”

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid has two strong chances in Liberty Lane and Botanical, trained by Karl Burke and Roger Varian respectively – the latter of whom has another runner in the Shadwell-owned Enfjaar.

William Knight’s Dual Identity has been faring well this year, winning the Whitsun Cup at Sandown before returning to the track to come third in another valuable contest over course and distance and then sixth when beaten two and a half lengths in the Coral Challenge.

He now steps up in trip having run those races over a mile, and Knight is hoping the extended distance will play to his strengths, as his handicap allocation is eased by 5lb-claimer Brandon Wilkie.

“He’s come out of that Sandown race well, though you always worry when you back them up quickly after a relatively hard race,” the trainer said.

“Our angle is that stepping up to a mile and a quarter and taking a valuable five (pounds) off his back should put him in with a big chance of running well on Saturday.

“I think he needs to be stepped up now to a mile and a quarter. It should be nice ground on Saturday and if there’s a little bit of juice in it, that will help as well.”