Rahiebb to fly the flag for Varian at Royal Ascot

Rahiebb is all set for the Gold Cup when he will head up Roger Varian’s team at Royal Ascot.

The four-year-old pushed Scandinavia all the way in the St Leger last season and proved he is going to be a major force in the Cup races when winning at York on his reappearance.

“We’ve been watching Rahiebb and he’s in great form,” Varian told Tattersalls.

“He’s on target for the Ascot Gold Cup. He’s a beautiful model and a lovely stamp of a horse, and he seems to be finding his strength and developing into the finished article.

“We’re very excited about Ascot only being two weeks away now.

“His last two races have really put him in the Gold Cup picture. Very nearly winning the St Leger, pushing Scandinavia all the way at Doncaster last September, and then winning the Yorkshire Cup quite impressively a few weeks ago. I think those two performances alone really put him in the Gold Cup picture.

“We’re very excited about him in the short term, but also the medium and long term. We hope he can be a flag bearer for the yard over the next season or two.”

Looking ahead to Royal Ascot, Varian said:  “We have a good squad. I think we’ll be between 10 and 12 runners on the week and I think he’ll be the focal point. He’ll probably be the only one of ours lining up in a Group One that week and he goes there with an obvious chance.

“It’s a tough race. They all are at Royal Ascot. He’ll be the team leader, but there are some horses going there with nice chances.”