The Parthenon carrying O’Brien hopes of another Vintage success

The Parthenon will bid to provide Aidan O’Brien with a fourth victory in Tuesday’s HKJC World Pool Vintage Stakes at Goodwood.

It is 10 years since the Ballydoyle handler broke his duck in the juvenile Group Two with the globetrotting Highland Reel and he has since added to his tally with War Decree in 2016 and Battleground in 2020.

Having finished fifth at Group Three level on his debut, The Parthenon opened his account at the second time of asking at Gowran Park last month and has since sidestepped the Railway Stakes at the Curragh and the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket on account of unsuitable ground.

With that in mind, O’Brien will be hoping conditions continue to dry out on the Sussex Downs for the son of Kingman.

“We’ve always thought plenty of The Parthenon. He made his debut in the Marble Hill and ran well enough there and wasn’t beaten far, especially given he was really green,” said the trainer.

“He won his maiden the next time, but we were a little bit disappointed with him there to be honest, despite him winning, as we thought he’d win a bit easier than he did.

“Hopefully he’ll run well as he’s a nice colt.”

The Middleham Park Racing team believe a step up in trip will enable their contender An Outlaw’s Grace to take his game to another level.

An impressive winner on his Salisbury introduction, the Richard Hannon-trained colt went on to finish fourth behind fellow British raider Arabie in the Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly two weeks ago.

“We’ve seen him out having a little breeze at Richard’s and he seems in great shape. He’s never been in better form,” said Middleham Park’s director of racing, Tim Palin.

“Six furlongs at Chantilly might just have found him out second time out and Richard and Sean (Levy) think the step up to seven should eke out some further improvement.

“It’s a wide-open race and we’re one of the protagonists. You’d like to think we’ll run a big race and hopefully we’ll be in the mix.

“There’s lots of horses in there of a similar ilk. Hopefully the ground will continue to dry out and that should help us a wee bit.”

Another runner testing the water over seven furlongs for the first time is Charlie Appleby’s Aomori City, who was a debut winner at Nottingham before placing third behind O’Brien’s Whistlejacket in the Newmarket’s July Stakes.

“Aomori City produced a decent performance in the July Stakes, when it looked as though stepping up to seven would suit,” Appleby said on the Godolphin website.

“He brings a decent level of ability into the race and I think the track will be a positive as well. We are hoping he can find more improvement over this distance.”