Prince Of India steps up in class on Sky Bet Sunday Series card

Marco Botti believes Prince of India is ready for the step up in class ahead of the hat-trick seeking colt’s appearance in the £70,000 Sky Bet Starman Garrowby Stakes at York on Sunday, live on Racing TV.

The son of Wootton Bassett won a novice race over seven furlongs at Wolverhampton on his seasonal reappearance and has triumphed on a further three occasions in handicaps.

His fast-track improvement has been highlighted in his last two runs, scoring in style in competitive six-furlong contests at Newmarket and Ascot.

Newmarket-based Botti said: “He’s progressed a lot since he won at Wolverhampton and his last two wins I thought he was quite impressive.

“I think he appreciated the drop back to six furlongs – he’s getting faster and faster. He’s a Wootton Bassett out of a Galileo mare, but he’s definitely not short of speed.”

As a result of his ongoing success, Prince of India has climbed from an official rating of 76 to 104, hence the tilt at a Listed prize

Now connections have their sights on stakes company for the speedster, who is part of an 11-strong field due to line up for Sunday’s six-furlong feature race on the Knavesmire.

Botti added: “This seems the right opportunity. He’s been an exciting three-year-old that’s progressed through the season and hopefully there’s still a little bit more to come. 

“Through the spring and summer, the horse was just improving and thriving and I felt we might just have a Group horse running in handicaps, but we took the opportunity while he still had a rating to run in handicaps to go down that route.”

Prince of India has proved adept on fast ground and is also likely to handle easier underfoot conditions, according to Botti.

He said: “The ground is described as good, good to soft in places. We always thought it shouldn’t be a problem, despite his recent form on good to firm. We always thought he probably wants just a little bit of give in the ground.  So, it shouldn’t be a concern and I’m excited to see him stepping up in grade and am looking forward to Sunday.”

The Family Raceday comprises seven races, the first of which is the Enter ITV7 For Free ‘Confined’ EBF Maiden at 2.30pm. Before the card gets underway, there is Dragon Series Pony Racing at 1.45pm.