Passenger ‘progressing well’ ahead of possible York run

Passenger could make his eagerly-awaited return to the track in the Sky Bet York Stakes if getting the go-ahead from trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

The Niarchos family-owned colt made a thrilling start to his four-year-old campaign, brushing Israr aside with a degree of ease at Chester in the Huxley Stakes.

However, a setback has kept him on the sidelines since, ruling out a clash with Auguste Rodin in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and then a Coral-Eclipse showdown with City Of Troy at Sandown.

He holds an entry for the Juddmonte International Stakes at York on August 21, but Stoute will decide over the weekend whether the son of Ulysses will get an early sighter of the Knavesmire in the Group Two over the same course and distance on Saturday week.

Alan Cooper, racing manager for the Niarchos family, said: “Passenger is progressing well and at the beginning of next week Sir Michael will decide if we go to York next weekend or straight to the Juddmonte.

“The York Stakes is an option but let’s wait and see. The horse is very well in himself.”

The Freemason Lodge handler won the inaugural running of the York Stakes with Best Alibi in 2006, while potential opponents for Passenger could include William Haggas’ impressive Dante Stakes scorer Economics.