The Irish Derby's other big winner: what next for this Royal Ascot star after major form boost?

The Merchant team are resisting the urge to roll the dice in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes this month, despite the form of his Royal Ascot win receiving a handsome boost in the Irish Derby last Sunday.

The William Haggas-trained three-year-old gave Highclere Racing another famous day at Britain's showpiece summer event with success in the King George V Stakes over Serious Contender, who significantly franked the form when beaten just three-quarters of a length by Lambourn at the Curragh.

While Merchant is a 20-1 chance for the King George, the son of Teofilo is a doubt to be thrown into Group 1 company for his next outing, according to his connections.

• Lambourn's odds for King George and Arc easy to resist - but 9-1 for this St Leger hope should be snapped up

Highclere's racing manager Harry Herbert said: "It was a highly unusual entry and I'd say the King George is unlikely unless it completely fell to pieces. You're likely to face a dual Derby winner and it looks like it would be a tough race. I think William would rather look after him, take him through the gears and see where he takes us.

"He's very exciting and he's in the hands of a masterful trainer. He's improving rapidly, but we're going to take a regular route."

Harry Herbert: "He's very exciting and in the hands of a masterful trainer"Credit: Jeff Spicer (Getty Images)

Merchant will be be upped in class for his next outing in the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. The Group 3 was won by subsequent St Leger hero Jan Brueghel last year and Merchant is 10-1 for the Doncaster Classic, although Herbert feels a tilt at that could be some way off.

"He's very well after Ascot and the plan is very much to go to the Gordon, as long as William is happy with him, and then on to the Great Voltigeur at York's Ebor meeting," Herbert said. "It's possible he could be a St Leger horse and it's a fabulous race, but is going a mile and six the right move for him? We'll see. We have to take it one step at a time in mind for the future. 

"He's always been very highly regarded by William, so it's always lovely when you see the form franked like that and makes you think they could be quite special. I was at the Curragh, even though we didn't have a runner, and it was a very exciting race. We're thrilled to bits with how it worked out."

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (3.35 Ascot, July 26)
Paddy Power: 5-2 Jan Brueghel, 3 Calandagan, 6 Kalpana, 7 Rebel's Romance, 8 Ombudsman, 10 Whirl, 12 Amiloc, Sosie, 14 bar

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