Mishriff tunes up for repeat Saudi Cup bid with workout at Chelmsford

Three-time Group 1 winner Mishriff enjoyed an awayday at Chelmsford on Thursday morning for a racecourse gallop over a mile as part of his preparation for attempting to repeat last year's success in the $20 million Saudi Cup in Riyadh on Saturday week.

The exercise mirrored a pre-departure workout of a year ago by the five-year-old for the now Group 1 contest and joint-trainers John and Thady Gosden were keen to stick to the same script by working him left-handed on an artificial surface.

The son of Make Believe, second only to St Mark's Basilica in the 2021 world rankings, was on Thursday cut to 11-4 favourite (from 3) by Ladbrokes and Coral for a second Saudi Cup victory.

Mishriff, who was ridden by his usual partner Ben De Paiva in the workout, was accompanied by Harrovian (Rab Havlin), who is being aimed at the Group 3 Neom Cup on the same card which is worth $1.5 million.

Thady Gosden said: "The pair did a nice breeze despite a strong headwind down the straight and Mishriff finished half a length up as he usually does. They covered a mile around the bend and it's something we did last year. Chelmsford is very handy for us and they are always very accommodating so it was a worthwhile exercise."

He added: "The horses are due to fly out to Saudi on Sunday so it was nice to send them around a bend close to a race rather than going up the Al Bahathri at home, which is almost straight and the change of scene was also a positive."

Saudi Cup

Coral: 11-4 Mishriff, 7-2 Mandaloun, 6 T O Keynes, 8 Art Collector, Midnight Bourbon, 10 Country Grammer, 12 Real World, 14 Magny Cours, Sealiway, 16 bar

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