LONDON // Krypton Factor has been given another chance in the hunt for a US$1 million (Dh 3.67m) bonus after the Dubai Golden Shaheen winner was among 57 horses, including Black Caviar, to be entered yesterday for the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket.
The four-year-old gelding will run in the Krisflyer International Sprint in Singapore on May 20 before being shipping to England four days later in preparation for his first encounter with the world's best sprinter in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 23.
All being well, Krypton Factor, who picked up $600,000 for his win at Meydan Racecourse in March, will join Black Caviar in the July Cup, which is also a target for Ortensia, the Al Quoz sprint winner who will initially avoid Black Caviar by running in the King's Stand Stakes at the Royal Meeting on June 19.
"He has been very well since his victory in Dubai," Oliver St Lawrence, the racing manager to Krypton Factor's trainer, Fawzi Nass, said. "We eased off a bit but he wasn't on the go from the end of Meydan's season last year to the start of Meydan this year so he has hardly had a strenuous time.
"He has improved this year because we have brought him back in trip and Fawzi always knew that last year, but the horse had just turned three so we didn't want to take on older horses. He had his prep run over eight furlongs this season and then once he was back at six he was pretty unbeatable."
The Golden Shaheen, the Krisflyer International Sprint and the three Group 1 sprints in Britain form part of the Global Sprint Challenge, as does the Coolmore Lightning Stakes in Australia won this year by Black Caviar. If a horse wins three races in the series, across three different countries, the connections receive a bonus of $1m. The July Cup at Newmarket on July 14 boasts a prize fund of £400,000, while the two Ascot sprints have a pool of £850,000 between them.
Godolphin has entered five in the July Cup, including Sepoy and Helmet, the Australian imports, as well as Delegator.
The Dubai-based operation is in action today at Chester, where Saeed bin Suroor runs Hunter's Light and Prince Siegfried in the Group 3 Huxley Stakes. The pair face Wigmore Hall, trained by Michael Bell, while Questioning, owned by Princess Haya of Jordan, and trained by John Gosden, is also in the line-up.
Also in action at Chester is Fitri Hay's Minimise Risk, who bids to justify his entry in the Epsom Derby and follow-up the Dubai-based owner's victory in the Group 3 Chester Vase last season with Treasure Beach.
The son of Galileo, the 2001 English and Irish Derby winner will face Mickdaam, formerly trained by Mike De Kock but now with Richard Fahey.
David Livingston, trained by Aidan O'Brien, Model Pupil, owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Call To Battle complete the field.
"He's only had two runs, but he's progressing along the right lines - he's a smashing horse," Andrew Balding, the trainer, said of Minimise Risk. "I'm very happy with his well-being. There's only five of them, but it looks a wide-open race."
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