LONDON // Ortensia and Sole Power are set to clash again after finishing first and second in the Al Quoz sprint at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday.
Ortensia, trained in Australia by Paul Messara, beat Sole Power by one-and-a-quarter lengths in the 1,000-metre turf sprint on Dubai World Cup night.
After the race, Messara said his horse would go to England to contest the Group 1 King's Stand Stakes in June, and yesterday it was confirmed Sole Power would also be aimed at Royal Ascot after running in the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park on May 26.
"We'll be looking at all the normal races for him - the Temple, the King's Stand at Royal Ascot and the Nunthorpe later on," said Eddie Lynam, his trainer.
"He's been out in Dubai a month and he has been looked after tremendously well by the people in the international barn. He's basically had a holiday and made a lot of money. He's coming home fresh and well and ready to go again."
The winners of the Dubai Duty Free and Dubai World Cup could also meet after Roger Charlton said he was looking at the Singapore Airlines International Cup for Cityscape after Godolphin suggested the race was the plan for Monterosso.
Cityscape broke the track record at Meydan under James Doyle, and Charlton also said a race in France was a possible target.
"There is Singapore and also the Prix d'Ispahan, which is a Group 1 over nine furlongs at Longchamp in May," he said. "Cityscape had been training well, looked magnificent, and he's developed into a really good, seasoned traveller."
As a result of his victory, Doyle has been invited to the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup jockey challenge at Ascot in August, where he will be joined on the card by Hayley Turner and Chantal Sutherland.
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