Top duo ruled out of Newbury showdown

Lydia Hislop13 April 2012

Desert Deer and Frenchmans Bay are now bound for next month's prestigious Royal Ascot meeting after their trainers counted both horses out of this Saturday's £160,000 Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

The Prince Of Wales's Stakes, staged over 10 furlongs on 19 June, is a potential target for Desert Deer. But Frenchmans Bay will stick to a mile in the Royal meeting's Group Two Queen Anne Stakes on the preceding day.

With an unsettled forecast at Newbury this week, Desert Deer's trainer Mark Johnston doubts both the suitability of the ground and mile trip for Saturday's Group One Lockinge Stakes event.

Desert Deer made an impressive seasonal reappearance at Newmarket last month, slamming Chianti by nine lengths in a 10-furlong conditions contest.

"I'm not sure whether the going will suit and I wonder whether 10 furlongs is more his distance," said Johnston-"This year's Lockinge is a very competitive race and you don't want two 'ifs' going into a Group One."

Lack of fitness counted Frenchmans Bay out of his Newbury assignment. The four-year-old colt has been plagued by injury since finishing third to Golan in last year's 2,000 Guineas and suffered another setback soon after his winning comeback at Kempton last month.

"He worked yesterday and is still not fit enough, so it's pointless running in a Group One," admitted trainer Roger Charlton.

The Beckhampton handler has now pinpointed the Group Three Prix du Palais Royal at Longchamp on 30 May as a suitable pre-Ascot target for Frenchmans Bay.

For those contenders remaining in the Lockinge, Newbury's clerk of the course Richard Osgood war ned unpredictable weather could push the ground either way.

It is currently good, goodto-firm in places, and drying all the time following Monday's rain. But a high risk of showers tomorrow means Osgood advises a watching brief for punters and connections.

"There is a high percentage chance of some rain hitting us tomorrow, but how much we don't know," he said.

"It's likely to be less rather than more, perhaps five millimetres, but even that would probably change us back to good. It's difficult to tell whether we would get enough to make the ground any easier than that."

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