Carl Spackler in great shape with Ascot approaching

Connections of rate Ascot itself as the biggest challenge for their new American recruit in the Queen Anne Stakes next Tuesday.

The five-year-old was sold to Yulong Investments last month, shortly after recording his third Grade One victory for trainer Chad Brown in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland.

Now with Australian handler Ciaron Maher, Carl Spackler will make his yard debut in the opening event of the Royal meeting, with William Bourne, Maher’s bloodstock manager, acknowledging the course as a key obstacle for the Lope De Vega horse to overcome.

He said: “I would say his biggest challenge is the conditions and the track. A stiff mile at Ascot is probably the biggest ask coming from America, I think that will be his biggest challenge in handling that.

“It would be amazing (to win). It’s pretty unique to purchase a horse in America, to be trained by an Australian and run at Royal Ascot, but the long-term plan is to bring him out for the Cox Plate, so we’d be thrilled to get this on the way through.”

Carl Spackler was put through his paces on Newmarket’s July course on Wednesday morning, with Jamie Spencer in the saddle, although top Australian jockey will be in the plate on Tuesday.

Bourne said: “We came here wanting to have a hit out. That’s his second gallop since he’s been here in Newmarket, he came in with good condition, a very healthy horse from Chad Brown and after the feedback from Jamie Spencer on his first gallop, he needed a good hit out so coming here today, he got that and that’s exactly what we wanted to achieve.

“He’s done it really nicely and Jamie said when he gave him a little squeeze late on, he really exploded and he was pretty impressed by how much he’d switched on from his first to his second gallop. It’s obviously not an easy task for us, but the horse looks fit and well.”

McDonald is no stranger to Royal Ascot success, having ridden three winners at the fixture in 2022, and has enjoyed plenty of big-race wins for Yulong, not least with ex-British runner Via Sistina who he has steered to six Group One wins since her transfer to Australia.

Bourne said: “James is great, obviously he’s had a lot of luck with the colours on with Via Sistina and he’s had winners at Royal Ascot before. He’s a great fit for the owners, they wanted him and it’s a great to have a world-class jockey on your horse in a Group One.

“He’s Yulong’s main rider in Australia and if ‘J-Mac’ was available, we were very happy to use him.

“James is happy to come over and ride the horse, I was chatting to him last week, he’s watched his tapes and is getting very excited about the horse. He didn’t know who he was and I got a very bland response, but after watching the tapes and having a look at the horse, he’s very excited and upbeat.”

Winner of eight of his 12 starts in America, although Carl Spackler has the Cox Plate, Australia’s premier weight-for-age race, firmly on his agenda in the autumn, should he run well at Ascot, he might yet have a second British start.

Bourne added: “We’ll play it by ear, we’re going to look at Goodwood as an option but his ultimate goal will be the Cox Plate, so we will see how he runs on Tuesday and go from there. He’s obviously a quality horse and there will be plenty of options for him.”