Godolphin’s Jack Hobbs to use Kempton run to target Longchamp

While the main Godolphin hope gets revved up, at Haydock Park in the north of England, Roger Varian is rolling the dice again with Belardo.

William Buick will be riding Jack Hobbs again after his last outing in June when he won the Irish Derby. Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images

A low-key weekend it may be, but Godolphin hope for bigger and better things with their high-profile runners spread around the world during the next two days.

The Group 3 September Stakes on the polytrack surface of Kempton Park may not be the most glamorous race, but Jack Hobbs’s participation has sprinkled some stardust on the event.

Jack Hobbs has not raced since June, when he powered to victory in the Irish Derby.

At the Curragh he swatted aside subsequent Great Voltigeur Stakes winner Storm The Stars. He has been on a break since then in preparation for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp next month.

The September Stakes was the launchpad last season for subsequent Dubai World Cup winner Prince Bishop, who also won the 2,400-metre contest in 2013. As Kempton is close to John Gosden’s stables in Newmarket in comparison to Longchamp, which next weekend stages Arc Trials day, the seven-runner race is seen as an easy re-introduction for Jack Hobbs, who will be ridden by William Buick.

While Jack Hobbs gets revved up, at Haydock Park in the north of England, Roger Varian is rolling the dice again with Belardo.

Last season’s European champion two-year-old has been disappointing this season in four runs. Those were behind top-class horses such as Muhaarar, Gleneagles, Solow and Esoterique – all Group 1 winners this year – and were over 1,600m. Varian has pitched his three year old in to the Group 1 Sprint Cup today, which is over 1,200m.

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Varian’s stable was in rude form in July when the Newmarket trainer rattled along at a 36 per cent strike rate, but since then the winners have dried up.

James Doyle will be in the saddle, however, and the Godolphin rider secured his fourth win this month at Ascot yesterday aboard Movie Set and brings that momentum with him.

“I’m getting a nice flow of winners and I’m riding with a lot of confidence,” Doyle said. “It’s hard to know exactly how he will run, but I definitely think it is worth a crack.”

Belardo faces 16 rivals, including Irish globe-trotters Sole Power and Gordon Lord Byron as well as Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s runners Adaay and Waady.

Three year olds have won four of the last 10 runnings of the race, so should Belardo prevail the 1,200m sprint on British Champions Say at Ascot next month could beckon.

Godolphin was set up as an international stable, and Dubai World Cup Carnival stars Local Time and Maftool represent Dubai in the two-day international meeting at Veliefendi Racecourse in Istanbul.

Local Time, the UAE 1,000 Guineas and Oaks winner, takes her chance in the Group 3 Istanbul Trophy tonight, while UAE 2,000 Guineas winner Maftool will line up in the Group 2 Bosphorus Cup tomorrow.

Neither has fired since their Classic victories at Meydan. Both are reliant on dirt to show their best, and the Turkish turf is unlikely to ignite either’s campaign.

Godolphin have much to look forward to with Contributer embarking on his journey towards a berth in the Cox Plate early this morning at Moonee Valley in Australia in the Group 2 Dato Tan Chin Man Stakes.

Hartnell starts his Melbourne Cup journey in the Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick today.

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