Travel problems not helping Oliver Show’s bid to go one better at Doncaster

Oliver Show’s bid to avenge last year’s “heartbreaking” narrow defeat in the William Hill Lincoln at Doncaster is up in the air, with the gelding stranded in Bahrain.

The Pompey Ventures-owned six-year-old took it up in the final furlong on Town Moor but was agonising headed by Godwinson in the final strides, going down by a nose.

The George Boughey-trained son of No Nay Never has enjoyed his winter in Bahrain but the current unrest in the middle east has made securing a flight back to Britain difficult for connections and now appears to be tough and go whether he will return in time to take his place on the start line.

Owen Haly, founding partner of the Pompey Ventures syndicate, said: “He’s currently stuck in Bahrain. It’s looking unlikely that we’re going to be able to get him back at the moment.

“It’s not 100 per cent, but with the things that are going on out there at the moment it’s just proving hard to get him back. It’s certainly not impossible, we’re in touch with the Bahrain Turf Club every other day at the moment.

“Hopefully there’s a flight for him at the end of this week, end of weekend. At the moment it’s not looking ideal.

“Luckily we were able to have a few decent days out with him last season, the Lincoln and then Royal Ascot. Some nice days out and it would have been nice to go back with him and hopefully we still can.

“It was definitely heartbreaking (last year’s Lincoln). That was the biggest buzz you could probably imagine at the time. Enzo (commentator Tony Ennis) called us the winner and we were going a bit mad at the time, but sadly it wasn’t to be.

“He’s in good order training away, he’s benefiting from the warmer climates and he’s looking a million dollars at the moment so hopefully we can get him back for it.

“It’s a great programme out there for syndicates like us that maybe don’t have the horses of the level to go to places like Dubai, it offers a middle ground of some exciting racing in the Middle East while getting some sun into him as well.

“He comes back looking in his summer coat whereas other horses that have been here are a couple of months behind him in that respect.”

If the repeat bid at the Lincoln fails to come off, plans are afoot for Oliver Show for the summer ahead.

Haly added: “We’d like to line up in something like the Victoria Cup and then perhaps give another crack at the Buckingham Palace, those sort of events.

“We’ll just campaign him like a good horse and try to get as many big days out with him as we can. He’s not getting any younger and he owes us nothing. We just want to enjoy him for what he is and he’s a very good handicapper.”