Bloom has Royal Ascot plans for Poniros and Lake Forest

Patience is the optimum word for Tony Bloom, who after landing one of the biggest shocks in Cheltenham Festival history, now has his sights set on further glory at his beloved Royal Ascot.

Few will have enjoyed a better six months than the Brighton & Hove Albion supremo and as the Seagulls continue to soar in the Premier League, he has enjoyed big-race success across the globe with his carefully selected team of equine talent.

A third Champion Chase may have eluded flagship veteran Energumene, but Poniros’ unforgettable 100-1 Triumph Hurdle success was one to celebrate at Prestbury Park, while on the Flat, Lake Forest brought home a £2.8million bounty when making a daring raid on Australia’s prestigious Golden Eagle in early November.

Both of those victors are central to summer plans where the 55-year-old seeks to add to the Royal Ascot triumphs of High Standing (Wokingham Stakes, 2009) and dual Queen Alexandra Stakes scorer Stratum (2021 and 2021).

Bloom’s racing manager Sean Graham said: “Royal Ascot is a meeting Tony loves and enjoys going to. A lot of his Flat horses, if they are good enough, that’s the meeting where the trainers are asked if they can get them there if it fits into their plan.

“I think the success is down to patience and Tony and Ian (McAleavy) don’t rush. They leave their trainers to train them the way they want to train them and all the horses we’ve had over the years have always had a break after the sales.

“Penhill, Withhold, Librisa Breeze and Stratum – all of them have had breaks after the sales just to give them a bit of time to wind down.

“Touch wood, the horses have been fit and healthy and especially we’ve been very lucky with the horses we’ve had with William Haggas.”

It is Somerville Lodge handler Haggas who is plotting Lake Forest’s course to the opening race of the Royal meeting – the Queen Anne Stakes.

After his big-money haul in the southern hemisphere, the son of No Nay Never will put his credentials at a mile to the test when he targets further riches overseas in Sunday’s FWD Champions Mile at Sha Tin.

“The race in Australia was seven and a half furlongs and it definitely put a mile on our radar,” continued Graham.

“The obvious race in the UK was the Lockinge but the ground can often come up soft on that day, so we’re heading to Hong Kong.

“We wanted to give the horse a run before the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot and the race at Hong Kong fits in perfectly.

“It’s a mile round a bend on quick ground and the horse seems in good form, so it’s all systems go and hopefully we can then go to Royal Ascot and some of the other group races over a mile over the rest of the season.”

The summer showpiece is also on the agenda for Poniros, who after his Triumph Hurdle heroics will head to the Punchestown Festival for their juvenile equivalent before switching attentions to the level, with the Ascot Stakes the focal point of the four-year-old’s Flat campaign.

“He goes to Punchestown for their Grade One and if all goes to plan, then it will be Royal Ascot for the two-and-a-half-mile handicap on the Tuesday,” added Graham.

“He was certainly bought with dual purpose in mind and it was never going to be a rush with Poniros. We always had it in the back of our mind he would make a decent handicapper during the summer because the prize-money for those races is incredible.”

Neither Bloom or Graham were in attendance at Prestbury Park when 100-1 shot Poniros remarkably downed hotpots Lulamba and East India Dock on his first hurdling start in the Gold Cup-day opener.

And having already proven 200,000 guineas well spent, connections are dreaming of what more could come with Willie Mullins guiding his career.

Graham added: “In our wildest dreams we couldn’t have seen Poniros winning the Triumph Hurdle first time out and against good horses. Lulamba had the one start over hurdles at Ascot, East India Dock had had three and we were just hoping the horse would gain a little experience.

“Finishing sixth or seventh would have been brilliant but winning it was unbelievable and it was an incredible performance. If he can do that over hurdles when he’s not fully tuned up, what is he going to be capable of when he is tuned up.

“It just proves that having horses with Willie Mullins, it doesn’t surprise you. If anyone was going to win a Triumph Hurdle first time out, it was Willie Mullins.”