Pastoral is Town Moor player
Wednesday 5 September 2012
Pastoral Player could bid to book his ticket for the Prix de la Foret with victory at Doncaster next week.
The five-year-old is set to take his chance in the Group Two OLBG Park Stakes over seven furlongs on Saturday week as he aims to return to winning ways.
Hughie Morrison's charge was a Group Three winner at Haydock in June before finding the six-furlong Diamond Jubilee Stakes a bit too hot at Royal Ascot. He bounced back to form when only narrowly beaten in the Summer Mile but his recent fifth in the Hungerford Stakes left Morrison, who trains near Newbury, a little disappointed.
He said: "We are looking at the Park Stakes for Pastoral Player. He has been fine since his run in the Hungerford Stakes but the past two times he has been to Newbury, he hasn't operated for one reason or another.
"He has never been 100% reliable but it was a funny race and he didn't give the jockey his usual feel. He is an improving horse and he has always had it in him to be very good and he proved that at the end of last year, but he has had personal issues which none of us will ever know about.
"I think it's down to him growing up a bit and maybe six furlongs wasn't his best trip as he got a mile at Ascot when he didn't see the winner until very late. I think the straight track at Doncaster will be fine for him but it's possible he might prefer going round a bend.
"We are looking at the Prix de la Foret (Sunday, October 7) over seven furlongs on Arc weekend and there is also the Group Two Prix Daniel Wildenstein over a mile the day before, which we would be very happy to go for. If he won the Park Stakes, we would go for the Prix de la Foret but if he gets beat, we will go for the Prix Daniel Wildenstein."
Pastoral Player could face a tough test on Town Moor with the likes of Irish 2,000 Guineas runner-up Foxtrot Romeo, Alan McCabe's German 2,000 Guineas hero Caspar Netscher and Aidan O'Brien's multiple Group One winner Starspangledbanner among the contenders.
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