Staff Writer |
Arrest, owned by John and Thady Gosden, is set to compete in the Betfred St Leger and is expected to face a tough challenge. However, favorable conditions due to wet weather in Yorkshire seems to be in his favor.
The Frankel colt's victory in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury in August after a series of losses was a good sign. The horse was a favorite in the Derby and performed well in the Chester Vase when it was raining.
There was a possibility that Arrest would not be able to compete due to an Indian summer, but the recent rain has opened up the opportunity for the horse to compete on soft ground at Doncaster.
Barry Mahon of owners Juddmonte said, “He’s in good shape, I think John and Thady are both happy with how he’s training.
“We’re just keeping an eye on the weather forecast because it looks to be changing a bit, it looked a bit unlikely that we’d be running last week but I think they’ve had a bit more rain than was anticipated and there looks to be more to come.
“At the minute we’re very much on track for Saturday, we’ll just monitor the ground later in the week.”
It appears that the training team for Arrest is no longer considering the final British Classic of the season. Instead, they seem to have their sights set on two other horses: Gregory, who is currently the favourite, and Middle Earth, a supplementary entry.
Frankie Dettori, who has been Arrest's jockey throughout the season, is slated to partner with Gregory, a horse he rode to victory at the Queen's Vase in Royal Ascot. As the race is still evolving, it's unclear who will ride Arrest on Saturday.
Mahon added, “I asked John that question this morning and he said he’d go away and think about it over the next 24 hours and come up with a plan.
“I suppose the ground could dictate what Frankie will do, if it came up soft then he might change his mind, I don’t know.
“We’ll have to see in the next 24 hours what John and Thady want to do.”