Roger Varian: we'd love to run King Of Steel over ten furlongs at some point - he's not slow

Roger Varian is mulling a drop back to a mile and a quarter later this summer for his top three-year-old King Of Steel, who supplemented his excellent Derby second with an easy win in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot last Friday.

The strapping son of Wootton Bassett did not look to have taken much out of himself when paraded by the trainer and wife Hanako at their Carlburg Stables base on Tuesday morning, despite his Group 2 success coming just four days previously.

King Of Steel became the second winner of the week for Varian and owners Amo Racing, as well as providing jockey Kevin Stott with a breakthrough first winner at the meeting when scoring by three and a half lengths from Continuous in the 1m4f contest.

The powerfully made grey could well stick to that trip for his next possible engagement in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp on July 14, but beyond that Varian is keeping his options open with the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita in November a possible end of season target.

Sent off a 66-1 shot on his first outing of the season in the Derby, King Of Steel was at the other end of the market as 11-10 favourite when obliging at the royal meeting.

Varian said: “There was a bit of relief about his win at Royal Ascot as we were on the other side of the expectation situation. In the Derby we had expectation about the horse but no-one else did, whereas at Royal Ascot he was a short-priced favourite and the whole industry expected him to win and would have been disappointed if he had not. It was both a relief and a delight that he confirmed the promise of his Epsom showing.”

King Of Steel: finished second in the DerbyCredit: Edward Whitaker

King Of Steel is a big unit but is still lightly raced as he was making his seasonal debut at Epsom having missed his prep at York. Varian added: “He’s very well balanced and very agile. He showed that in the way that he not only handled Epsom, but the way he came out of it. He showed no soreness and no side effects, which shows he has great constitution and also that he is very athletic, which is rare in such a big horse.”

He added of the timeline and upcoming targets: “The Grand Prix de Paris is a strong option for him as there were 20 days between Epsom and Ascot and there are 21 days between Ascot and the Longchamp race.”

Beyond that, King Of Steel could well drop back in trip when it comes to taking on his seniors for the first time rather than tackle the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on July 28, for which he is 6-1 with most firms.

Varian said: “We entered him in the Juddmonte International at York this morning as we’d love to run him over ten furlongs at some point as he’s not slow – he has a lot of pace. I’m not saying he would definitely run in it, but he will have the option and we could also think about supplementing him for the Irish Champion Stakes.”

He added: “The second half of the season needs to formulate itself, but we could look at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe or the Champion Stakes at Ascot, while I know the owner has a thing for the Breeders’ Cup. I think this horse is good enough for us to have conversations about that type of race.”

Varian also said that his Listed Wolferton Stakes winner Royal Champion is likely to head to the Knavesmire next to contest the Group 2 Sky Bet York Stakes on July 29.

Read more . . .

'He's going to be a wonderful horse' - Derby runner-up King Of Steel sparkles in King Edward VII success 

Northumberland Plate: assessing the top contenders for the big betting race at Newcastle on Saturday 

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