'All roads lead back to the Sprint Cup' - Regional primed for Haydock return as Ed Bethell maps out big-race plans

Sprint Cup star Regional will return to the scene of his biggest triumph the end of this month when he makes his seasonal debut in the Temple Stakes at Haydock. 

The sprinter held on for Group 1 glory over six furlongs at the track in September under Callum Rodriguez and will now drop back in trip for his return to action in preparation for Royal Ascot next month. 

While Regional missed his intended start in Dubai in March, trainer Ed Bethell is excited to see his stable star back in action and believes the return to a shorter trip will suit him in the first half of his campaign. 

Bethell said: "He missed his planned engagement, the Al Quoz Sprint, because he hadn't come to himself properly this spring. We've taken our time with him but he worked nicely on Tuesday. 

"He'll work again this weekend and hopefully we'll be going for the Temple Stakes and then on to the King's Stand.

"He stays six furlongs, which is good, but I feel that trip in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes might just stretch him a bit, whereas the five furlongs at Ascot should bring him into his own. 

"He's a superior horse on a flat track and I like the Temple Stakes for him, so hopefully he should run well."

The decision to target Haydock this month means Regional will not take up his entry in the Duke of York Clipper Stakes at York, for which he was a best-priced 8-1. 

Regional (right): will run over five furlongs at Royal AscotCredit: Alan Crowhurst

After a run in the King's Stand, which this year has been renamed the King Charles III Stakes, the sprinter is likely to return to six furlongs with Bethell already plotting a route back to the Betfair Sprint Cup in September after seeing the six-year-old come into his own in recent weeks. 

"He's a fast-ground horse and I imagine it'll be Temple, King's Stand and we'll probably look at the July Cup and maybe the Maurice de Gheest, and all roads would lead back to defending his Sprint Cup," Bethell said.  

"He's a pretty cool customer at home. You wouldn't really know he's in the string because, like most very good horses, he just goes out and does his job and eats, sleeps and repeats, but we're very happy with how he is.

"Although he's fresh at the moment he's thrived in the last month and I'm really looking forward to running him. He looks a million dollars."

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