St Nicholas Abbey: drifted to 100-30 (from 11-4) with Coral on Wednesday
PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)Ladbrokes stand firm as St Nicholas Abbey drifts
LADBROKES stood out from the crowd on Wednesday as they refused to budge on the 2-1 about St Nicholas Abbey, who drifted with a number of high-street firms in the betting for Saturday's King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
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The Aidan O'Brien-trained five-year old drifted to 100-30 (from 11-4) with Coral while Stan James pushed him out to 3-1 (from 9-4).
He also hit 11 (10-1) before settling around 5 (4-1) at 7pm with race sponsors Betfair.
Speaking on Tuesday, jockey Joseph O'Brien said: "He's been doing all of his best racing lately on left-handed tracks but he's won on the round mile at the Curragh so I wouldn’t see it as a worry. He seems in good form."
William Hill now offer 5-2 co-favourites about St Nicholas Abbey, Nathaniel and Sea Moon but the latter's jockey Ryan Moore said St Nicholas Abbey is the horse to beat in the £1 million contest.
Deep Brillante was also cut to 14-1 (from 20) with BetVictor after trainer Yoshito Yahagi issued a confident bulletin. He said: "We are here to win."
But Alain de Royer-Dupre said Shareta is unlikely to line up in the Group1 contest if rain arrives before Saturday.
He said: "I am not sure if Shareta will run because we are waiting for the weather forecast. If we have too much rain we are not sure to run.
"If it rains the day before the race and the day of the race we are not sure to come."
But the trainer, who won last week's Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes with Giofra, is likely to be represented by Reliable Man, who finished fourth behind So You Think in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Royer-Dupre, speaking on At The Races, added: "He is sure to run. He is very well. He can go on all types of ground."
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