Soccer

The Revenant eyeing up defence of Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard is eyeing up a defence of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for The Revenant, while another tilt at the Prix Daniel Wildenstein is also on the cards.

Should The Revenant feature in the Longchamp race, he will be aiming for a third straight victory.
This would make him the most successful horse in the race's 139-year history as he would beat the likes of two-time winners Cameleon (1889, 1890), Le Meridional (1955, 1957), Special Kaldoun (2003, 2005), Spirito del Vento (2007, 2008) and Taareef (2016, 2017).
The gelding had been entered in this Sunday's Group Three Prix Quincey at Deauville but he has not been declared, largely due to unfavourable ground.
The six-year-old has had two outings this season - a third and a fourth-place finish in the Group Three Prix Edmond Blanc and the Group Two Prix du Muguet respectively.

A run in the one-mile Prix Daniel Wildenstein is next up, a race the chestnut won by four-and-a-half lengths two years ago, before following up by a length-and-a-quarter in 2020.

"He's OK, all is well with him," said Graffard.
"He won't be running over the weekend because the ground is not soft enough for him.
"We will probably come back and run on Arc weekend (in the Prix Daniel Wildenstein) like last year - the softer the better so we'll keep our fingers crossed."
The Revenant has ended his two previous seasons with a run in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, finishing second to King Of Change in 2019 and then going one better when winning the race by a head last year.

A return to Ascot on October 16 would feature highly in Graffard's late-season plans should he fare well following his bid for a Longchamp treble.

"Of course, it would be great," he said.
"We will see how he is when he comes back from the Prix Wildenstein and then we will decide."

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