William Haggas will walk the Ascot track on Wednesday before committing star filly Sea Of Class to the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes on day two of the Royal meeting.
The dual Oaks winner from last season has not run since a fast-finishing second behind Enable in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in the autumn.
Her Newmarket trainer is keen not to allow her to run on testing ground at Ascot, should it prevail, with a view to the remainder of her season and the impact that might have.
Ascot received just 0.5mm of rain overnight into Wednesday and the going on the round course has dried slightly to soft, good to soft in places (from soft on Tuesday).
Haggas will be walking the course before firming his commitment to the feature race on day two of Royal Ascot. “She’s in terrific form and has done everything we wanted. I’m really not sure about the ground. I’ll talk to Mrs Tsui [owner] and we won’t make any hasty decisions,” Haggas confirmed.
“We’ll have a look at the track and decide. I really want to run her but don’t want to bottom her at this stage of the season. We just want to make the right decision by her.”
Sea Of Class is set to lock horns with Aidan O’Brien’s Magical, Sir Michael Stoute’s Crystal Ocean and French raider Waldgeist in a Prince Of Wales’s Stakes thriller, if she gets the go-ahead.
The daughter of Sea The Stars is 4.50 to win, with Magical 2.38 and Crystal Ocean 5.00 for last year’s winning trainer.