Able Friend is settling in to his new environment at trainer Michael Bell’s Fitzroy House Stables in Newmarket where he will prepare for the G1 Queen Anne Stakes (1600m) at Royal Ascot next Tuesday (16 June).
Trainer John Moore, who will join his stable star on Friday, 12 June, is pleased with the reports he is receiving from his team on the ground in England, which includes his son, George Moore, Jockey Club vet Paul Robinson and work rider Thomas Yeung.
“Able Friend travelled unbelievably well; he ate and drank the whole way on the plane,” said Moore. “We weighed him and he only lost 10lb, so for a horse that is 1280lb, that’s nothing.
“When he got to England, Rossdales’ vet, Mike Shepherd, and our vet, Paul Robinson, were very happy with what they were seeing. The minute they put him into his stall he just went and drank a lot of water.”
Moore intends to work Able Friend on Polytrack in the build-up to the mile showpiece next week.
“He’ll be out on the Polytrack close to Michael’s yard,” he said. “It’s a flat gallop and that’s what we want. We’ll keep it as flat as we can. He’ll be out this morning on that Polytrack for a trot and we’ll get a chiropractor in to just go over him because he’s a monster of a horse.”
Able Friend took in the wide open spaces of Newmarket Heath as, appearing fresh and well, he headed out across the Hamilton Road to exercise close to the Rowley Mile racecourse this morning (Monday 8 June). The big chestnut completed four laps of the trotting ring under Yeung and then proceeded to complete two laps of the round gallop, once clockwise and once counter clockwise. The Shamardal five-year-old, who was led in his work by the Bell-trained My Strategy under Lewis Steward, then returned to the stables for a pick of grass.
Meanwhile, Moore also revealed that Able Friend, although taking the two-flight 20-plus hour journey in his stride, was not too enamoured with what he saw during a brief stop-over in Dubai.
“When he was in Dubai he took one look outside the pallet - where the cargo plane was he could see the desert - and the vet, Paul Robinson, said he took one look outside, saw the sand, must have thought to himself there’s no grass there, and put his head straight back in again!” said the handler.
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Photo 1:
Able Friend (behind) on his way to the Polytrack for morning exercise today.
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Photo 2:
Able Friend, who is preparing for the G1 Queen Anne Stakes, exercises at Newmarket this morning.
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Photo 3:
Able Friend looking fresh after morning trackwork.
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