Sweet William bidding to regain Henry II crown

Sweet William follows a tried and tested route to the Gold Cup in the Star Sports Henry II Stakes at Sandown on Thursday.

John and Thady Gosden’s popular stayer won this Group Two prize two years ago before picking up the bronze medal in Royal Ascot’s feature event the following month, while last season he took in the Yorkshire Cup en route to placing fourth at the summer showpiece.

His stablemate and nemesis Trawlerman completed the Henry II-Gold Cup double last season, but as he has not yet returned this term and his Gold Cup participation remains uncertain, Sweet William heads to Sandown on the back of a thrilling comeback victory over subsequent French Group One winner Caballo De Mar in Ascot’s Sagaro Stakes four weeks ago.

Robert Havlin, who has been ever-present in the saddle during Sweet William’s 22-race career, said: “He won this race two years ago and obviously has a penalty this time. A couple of years ago we went the same route of Sagaro/Henry II and then he was third in the Gold Cup, so it seems to be a good run into the Gold Cup itself.

“I’m obviously looking forward to riding him, he’s come out of the Sagaro well. He and Caballo De Mar had a good old ding-dong up the straight that day and I’m sure if Trawlerman had been in the Sagaro he’d have gone past George Scott’s horse by about three lengths, but he was quite happy to keep him company.

“He’s never won first time out before and he’s in great form – he’s bucking and kicking and really well in himself.”

While Sweet William has been placed in more big races than he has won, he has been unfortunate to run into the likes of Trawlerman and brilliant stayer Kyprios on multiple occasions and he was also not beaten far by Scandinavia and Rebel’s Romance in big races last season.

“There’s no stayer in the country that’s more consistent than him and he holds his form to a high level every time he runs,” Havlin continued.

“People call him names, but I’m sure they’d all love to own him.”

On whether a third Gold Cup tilt is on the cards, the rider added: “That is always the plan, but the horse comes first. If he’s well enough and able to have another crack at it then that’s probably where we’ll go.”

One of the biggest threats to Sweet William appears to be the long-absent Lazy Griff, although his participation is ground dependent.

Charlie Johnston’s charge was placed behind Lambourn in the Derby at Epsom and the Irish Derby at the Curragh last season and while injury scuppered his St Leger participation, he is ready to make his competitive comeback as long as underfoot conditions in Esher are deemed suitable.

Tim Palin, managing director of owners Middleham Park Racing, said: “Charlie walked the track on Tuesday and at the moment he’s happy to run, so the plan is to send the horse down and walk the track again ahead of racing before making a final decision.

“The horse is in great shape, but he will just need the run – he’s not fully primed and fully revved up.

“He’s got a Group One entry over a mile and a half (Coronation Cup) and he’s got a Group One entry over two and a half miles in the Gold Cup. We felt the Leger distance (mile and three-quarters) would be perfect for him and tee him up lovely, but he picked up his injury, which is holding up perfectly well so far.

“Everything is on the table. If he hasn’t quite got the pace for a mile and a half we can look at races like the Irish St Leger, but if we can stretch him out to two miles and further for some of those Cup races that could be even sexier.”

David O’Meara’s Epic Poet and the Andrew Balding-trained Furthur renew rivalry after finishing third and fourth in the Yorkshire Cup two weeks ago, while Saeed bin Suroor’s Dubai Future will need to raise his game having finished a well held fourth behind Sweet William in the Sagaro.

With Beylerbeyi declared a non-runner, Alan King’s Paradias and Duke Of Oxford from Michael Bell’s yard complete the line-up.