3 minute read

Andrew Balding was pleased with the performance of 10/1 chance Bangkok, who finished a four and a half-length second to impressive winner Japan, the 6/4 favourite, in the £225,000 G2 King Edward VII Stakes.

Ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, Bangkok  travelled well throughout the 12-furlong contest, but was outstayed by Japan , trained by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, who won readily.

Bangkok was bitterly disappointing in the Investec Derby on June 1, but Balding was delighted that the three-year-old son of Australia had returned to form.

Balding said: "There are no excuses - we've just been beaten by the better horse. It's a relief to see Bangkok perform better than he did in the Derby.

"He has always looked like a talented horse at home and the Derby run something we could not explain, so it's good to see him return to form here. We finished a lot closer to Bangkok than we did at Epsom.

"We will look at all our options, but we might look at the American turf races there a they have a new series there which might suit.

"You never know until you try, but hopefully he would be fine with the travelling. You never know till you try, but I couldn't see why not."

The Michael Bell-trained Eagles By Day (25/1) stayed on strongly to finish third, a neck behind Bangkok and Bell commented: "Eagles By Day has stayed on really well to the line. He is a raw horse who is still inexperienced, but he stays well and ran on strongly to the line.

"He is a horse with a lot of ability, and they are such fun horses to train - he hopefully has a big future and the Bahrain Trophy (Newmarket, July Festival) could be next for him."