Irish Derby winner Sovereign to break new ground for Ballydoyle

Sovereign, the 2019 Irish Derby victor, has been supplemented for next month’s Bahrain International Trophy at Sakhir which will be shown live on Racing TV.

The four-year-old has not managed to get his head in front since that Curragh Classic win and has run four times this term, most recently finishing fifth in the Long Distance Cup at Ascot earlier this month.

Aidan O’Brien will drop him back in trip to 10 furlongs in Bahrain, with the event worth £500,000.

The trainer said: “Sovereign is a strong mile-and-a-quarter horse. He is a very strong galloper who likes to go forward in his races and we think the Bahrain International Trophy will suit him.”

Sovereign will be O’Brien’s first ever runner in Bahrain and he added: “He is a big genuine, sound horse. He’s an Irish Derby winner.

“We saw what he did in the Irish Derby and he ran a massive race in the King George where he was second to Enable, so we think the race will suit him and we are looking forward to seeing him run.”

The supplementary stage for the race closes on Tuesday, with a maximum field of 14 to go to post with 12 European runners and two locally-trained horses.