Zeus Olympios not yet confirmed for Queen Anne appearance

Karl Burke has yet to make a final decision on whether Zeus Olympios will take up his engagement in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

The Night Of Thunder colt looked set to take high rank in the mile division after rounding off an unbeaten three-year-old campaign with an impressive victory over Opera Ballo in the Group Two Joel Stakes at Newmarket in October, but he has had to make do with minor honours on his first two starts of this season.

Third behind Opera Ballo on his reappearance in the bet365 Mile at Sandown, Zeus Olympios then picked up the bronze medal behind another Godolphin star in Notable Speech in last month’s Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

Charlie Appleby’s pair are both in the mix for Royal Ascot’s traditional curtain-raiser next week and Burke will delay a call on whether his charge will take one or both on again until the weekend.

“He’s in the race and he’ll do a little piece of work tomorrow, but I’ve got to discuss it with Liam O’Rourke (bloodstock advisor for the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid),” the Spigot Lodge handler said on Thursday morning.

“It’s important that he wins a Group One because we’re trying to make him into a stallion. The Queen Anne isn’t going to be an easy one with the Godolphin horse that beat him in the Lockinge there, but that horse has ran twice at Ascot and been beaten both times.

“I think we learned a bit about our fella at Newbury, he seems in real good form and I think he’s going to keep progressing as the year goes on.

“If we miss this one it’s a question of where do we go and I do think he’s in great form, so we’ll see.

“If he doesn’t go there he could go for the Prix Jacques le Marois, but that’s a long time to wait. We’ve just got to discuss it.”

Another Burke-trained star whose Royal Ascot participation is uncertain is Fallen Angel, the top-class grey who last season completed a Group One hat-trick with victories in the Prix Rothschild, the Matron Stakes and the Sun Chariot.

After finishing a close-up fourth on her seasonal debut in the 10-furlong Middleton Stakes last month, she has the option of reverting to a mile in Wednesday’s Duke of Cambridge Stakes but Burke will be keeping a close eye on underfoot conditions.

He added: “She’s in great form, but it depends on the ground. If it holds at good I’d say there’s every chance she’ll run, but if there’s any firm in the description I’d say she probably won’t.

“She ran over the mile and a quarter at York because of the ground as much as anything, but we probably rode her wrong there. She just likes to be ridden aggressively and you can do that with confidence over a mile.

“I think over a mile and a quarter James (Doyle) was half thinking she might not stay, but I think she does and she wants riding the same way as she does over a mile – just go out and put them to the sword.

“If she doesn’t go to Ascot she’ll be entered in all of those Group One mile races. There’s three or four of them at Ascot and hopefully she’ll turn up in all of them if the ground is suitable.”