Pyledriver champing at the bit for Coronation Cup defence
- Tom Reed
- 18 May 2022
Pyledriver has been competing in some of the world's best races but there is no place like home for a Coronation Cup defence at Epsom on June 3.
Williams Muir's world traveller Pyledriver is heading back to blighty for the Summer and trainer Chris Muir is happy with his charge ahead of a defence of his Coronation Cup crown.
The Harbour Watch five-year-old saw off Al Aasy by a neck in the Coronation Cup at Epsom in 2021 and was then sent on a globetrotting expedition of top races.
Only a length separated Pyledriver from Hong Kong Vase success last December, while he also claimed a creditable fourth in the valuable Dubai Sheema Classic.
Muir is now readying his horse for domestic duties and he is pleased as punch at how Pyledriver has wintered.
"He's in good form, he went to Newbury (to work) on Sunday and I was as happy as I could be. I was delighted with it because he has had a break and he has come back and just shown he is exactly where he was before his other races all through the winter," said Muir.
"He's looked great out the past few days and we now have to just get through the next two weeks and we will be in with a great chance. Things can change with racehorses day by day, but at this present stage he's in good form.
"He's been a superstar for himself and never lets you down. He's run on fast ground in Hong Kong, fast ground in Dubai, really soft at Epsom last year, so you never have to worry about the ground because he seems to handle anything.
"He's in really good shape, I took him to Newbury on Sunday, he went round and worked well and just because I know where he is and I know what he does, that's why I'm really excited, not because he broke any land-speed world records.
"He just did what I wanted to see, like out in Dubai and Hong Kong, he just seems to be in that sort of place."
The Group 1 Coronation Cup takes place at Epsom racecourse on June 3 over a mile and four furlongs on the Downs. The winner receives a cool £241,018 and William Muir and Chris Grassick will be defending their title with Pyledriver.
