Owen backing Hallelujah U for big Bahrain run

Hallelujah U will bid to turn the tables on past rivals in the Bahrain Trophy Stakes at Newmarket.

The James Owen-trained three-year-old is owned by the Gredley family and was last seen finishing sixth in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.

He was slow into his stride but was still close to the action when beaten two and a quarter lengths, with two of the horses ahead now set to line up against him again on the July course.

“He ran an absolute cracker in the Queen’s Vase and just looked a shade unlucky,” said Owen.

“Both the track and trip should suit him, if he could take even a tiny step forward then he’s going to have a big chance.

“He wasn’t far behind some of these horses at Ascot and he was still relatively unexposed there.

“Now he’s had that race he should come forward again, so we’re very much looking forward to running him.”

Opposing him will be Andrew Balding’s Furthur and Aidan O’Brien’s Scandinavia, second and fifth in the Queen’s Vase respectively.

Behind Hallelujah U in seventh place was Adrian Murray’s Titanium Emperor, who also runs at Newmarket, with Richard Hannon’s Nightime Dancer completing the field of five.

On the same card is the Listed Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes, run over a mile for three-year-olds.

Godolphin have a trio of runners, with the Charlie Appleby-trained Heron Stakes winner Opera Ballo and stablemate Spectacular View joined by Saeed bin Suroor’s Arabian Story.

The latter horse has won both starts this season, taking an all-weather event at Chelmsford before landing the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“He’s come back in good form, he ran a huge race at Ascot,” said Bin Suroor of the Invincible Spirit colt.

“A mile is definitely his trip and he’s going from a handicap to a Listed race to try to get some black-type form for him.

“We’ll see how that goes, we’re really looking forward to running him on Thursday.”

Of his two runners, Appleby said via the Godolphin website: “We were delighted to get Opera Ballo back on track in the Heron Stakes.

“He has a penalty to carry, but he has done very well since Sandown and we are hoping to use this as a building block towards a nice campaign in the second half of the season.

“It suits Spectacular View to be ridden prominently and he won’t mind the ground or trip.”

Also involved is Charles Hills’ Elarak, unbeaten in two novices this term, with Stan Moore’s Brian, Balding’s Royal Playwright and Hugo Palmer’s Seagulls Eleven all in the line-up too.

Hannon is represented by King Of Cities, who was last seen going down by fourth lengths in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly.