'This has been the plan since Cheltenham' - classy jumper to lead Gavin Cromwell team at Royal Ascot

There cannot be many horses who have gone straight from the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival to Royal Ascot, but that is the route My Mate Mozzie is taking and Gavin Cromwell thinks the Copper Horse Handicap on the opening day of the royal meeting is the perfect fit for his versatile eight-year-old.

The Willie Mullins-trained Vauban was a runaway winner of the race last year when beating stablemate Absurde by seven and a half lengths, while 16-1 outsider Get Shirty won the relatively new addition to the royal race programme in 2022.

My Mate Mozzie was second in the November Handicap at Naas in 2022, has been second in two Grade 1s over jumps and was also a close-up third in the Galway Hurdle last year.

He was a shade disappointing in the Arkle at Cheltenham when sixth, but Cromwell has been happy with his progress since and revealed the Royal Ascot handicap had been his main aim since mid-March.

"My Mate Mozzie goes for the one-mile-six-furlong handicap on the first day and we've prepared him for it since Cheltenham," Cromwell said. "It's been on his radar since March and we're looking forward to it.

"He has a career-high mark on the Flat, but he's a classy enough horse and a strong traveller, so I think the race will really suit him. He seems very well at home and he has run really well in some big handicaps over the years. It would be nice if he were able to get his head in front in one of them."

Gary Carroll, who will ride My Mate Mozzie, teamed up with Cromwell to win the Queen Mary in 2021 and they will be back to try to repeat the feat with Fiery Lucy, a huge eyecatcher in a sprint maiden at Cork last month.

The trainer said: "Her pedigree suggests she will get a lot further than five, but she showed a lot of speed at Cork. She's a lovely filly and should take a nice step forward from her first run. We will also run Mighty Eriu next week as well. She ran a lovely race on her first start at the Curragh and seems nice."

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