A CLASH between next year’s 2000 Guineas and Derby favourites looks to be on the cards in the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York next week, with both Ruling Court and The Lion In Winter entered for the Group Three feature.
Both highly touted youngsters made winning debuts recently, with Charlie Appleby’s £1.9 miliion Justify colt Ruling Court bolting up at Sandown by over five lengths.
He is already as low as 8-1 for the Guineas, while Aidan O’Brien’s The Lion In Winter, who is by Sea The Stars and won by over two lengths at the Curragh when ridden by Wayne Lordan, only 10-1 in places for Epsom glory.
“He got a very good rating and everybody had a lot of good stuff to say about him after [his debut run]. Wayne rode him and he really liked him,” O’Brien told Racing TV.
“We’ll see, we’ll find out as we go along. We have one eye on the Goffs Million with him and this would be a lovely race in between.
“The Goffs is a seven-furlong race at the Curragh, York will be fast and sharp and win, lose or draw we think he will learn a lot there and it will stand him in good stead for his next race.”
There are 20 entries, with Hugo Palmer’s Wolf Of Badenoch, Even Johnson Houghton’s Billboard Star and the Andrew Balding pair of Jouncy and Royal Playwright among them.
O’Brien has supplemented his Irish Derby winner Los Angeles for the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur.