Roger Varian plotting direct route to Ebor at York for Fujaira Prince

Roger Varian will freshen up Fujaira Prince ahead of sending him straight to next month’s Sky Bet Ebor at York.

The lightly-raced six-year-old will be given a short break following his impressive victory in the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot, before taking aim at the valuable handicap on the Knavesmire.

Though the Pivotal gelding was hit with a 10lb hike in the weights for his latest success, the Newmarket handler believes he still has more to offer.

Varian said: “Fujaira Prince is likely to go straight for the Ebor. He is a very nice horse, but he has only run seven times in his life.

“He is going to be a horse to look after to make sure he produces it on the big days.

“Hopefully there are more big races in him.”

Mountain Angel could bid to back up his victory in the Listed Wolferton Stakes at the Royal meeting by trying to go one better than 12 months ago in the Group Three Prix Gontaut-Biron at Deauville.

Varian said: “We will see Mountain Angel back out again towards the end of the summer. He took the race at Ascot well.

“We could go back to France for the race he was second in 12 months ago, while the Rose of Lancaster up at Haydock is another option.”

Varian ruled Pierre Lapin out of Saturday’s Darley July Cup at Newmarket after reporting the colt to have returned sore following his disappointing effort in the Commonwealth Cup.

He said: “He was a little body sore after the race at Ascot. We’ve not found anything wrong, but something held him back that day and we still need to get to the bottom of it.

“He is a better horse than that, but quite where we go, I don’t know. We just have to regroup with him.

“The soft ground wouldn’t have helped, but that wasn’t an excuse as he was beaten too early for it to be the ground. Andrea (Atzeni) wasn’t happy after two furlongs.”