3 minute read

Experimented with a mile recently

Dermot Weld will switch back up in trip with Hazapour  after he finished down the field in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The four-year-old won a Leopardstown Group Three over a mile in May, prompting Weld to pitch him into the Group One in Berkshire.

However, Hazapour could finish only 12th at Ascot and Weld thinks 10 furlongs could be his optimum distance given he won last year's Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial over that trip before going on to claim fifth place in the Derby at Epsom.

He said: "He has come back fine. Things in the race didn't pan out his way at Ascot. The Meld Stakes might come a little bit too soon for him. I think probably a mile and a quarter is his right trip.

"When he won a Group race over a mile I thought that might be his trip, but he was a length clear at the mile-and-a-quarter stage in the Derby and he won his Derby trial over a mile and a quarter, so I think we might go back to 10 furlongs with him.

"It will just give him a little bit more time in his races. He probably handled the faster ground, but the race just didn't quite suit him at Ascot. There is definitely another Group race in him."