Eclipse Stakes: Al Kazeem on target for Ascot

Al Kazeem is set to run in the Eclipse at Sandown

Al Kazeem is to run in the Eclipse on his next start and not the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, trainer Roger Charlton said...

The five-year-old has won on all three starts this season, the last two coming in Group 1 company, most recently in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot last week. He had been thought likely to contest the mid-summer championship back at Ascot next month before being aimed at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

But while Longchamp remains his ultimate aim, Al Kazeem will take a different route to Paris, starting at Sandown on July 6.

Charlton, speaking at Windsor, told At The Races: "The Eclipse is the plan, and after that the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown (September 7). It gives him two months off (after the Eclipse), then a month before the Arc. He'll stay at a mile and a quarter (before the Arc). He's going to run in the Eclipse and not the King George."

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