Key questions and trainer views for the Bahrain Trophy

1.50 Newmarket
Bahrain Trophy | Group 3 | 3yo | 1m5f (July) | ITV3/RUK

Can Gosden continue his domination?

John Gosden loves the Bahrain Trophy and has proved rather adept at winning the opening race of Newmarket's July festival. There is a fair chance he will win it again with First Eleven.

Four of the last seven runnings of the Group 3 prize have been won by a young stayer representing Gosden, whose victors have included subsequent St Leger hero Masked Marvel.

On this occasion he is represented by one of Royal Ascot's unluckiest losers, as had First Eleven not been persistently denied daylight up the home straight of the King George V Stakes, he almost certainly would have triumphed.

With an enhanced total prize fund of £150,000 – the Bahrain Trophy is now worth £50,000 more than the card's showpiece event, the Princess of Wales's Stakes – valuable compensation could await the son of Frankel.

However, he will need to produce a personal best display given he now moves out of handicap company and into Group 3 waters.

Gosden said: "He was a bit unlucky at Royal Ascot when trying to deliver a challenge in the straight and has come out of that in good shape.

"He's stepping out of a handicap into a Group race but we think the trip will suit him, and he likes quick ground."

Like Gosden, First Eleven's rider Frankie Dettori is a Bahrain Trophy record holder, having taken the contest six times since it became a black-type event in 1990.

Will winner come from Royal Ascot again?

Gosden and Dettori have not been the only regular source of Bahrain Trophy winners. So, too, has Royal Ascot.

The last five winners of the race ran at the previous month's royal meeting, although only one of them, Hartnell, had been successful.

The last three winners lined up in the King Edward VII Stakes, one of them managing second and the other two finishing fourth. And looking at this season's field, four of the eight starters appeared at Royal Ascot.

Aside from First Eleven, Global Giant finished fifth in the Hampton Court Stakes, while both Giuseppe Garibaldi and Wells Farhh Go will be seeking to extend the strong association between the King Edward VII and Bahrain Trophy having placed third and sixth in the Ascot Derby.

Giuseppe Garibaldi has subsequently added a runner-up finish in the Curragh Cup and will be having his seventh outing of the campaign when ridden by Ryan Moore alongside stable companion Victory Salute.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien said: "Giuseppe Garibaldi ran well when second in the Curragh Cup. He came out of the race well and is in good form.

"Victory Salute was fourth in the Curragh Cup and was a bit green. He should have come on for the experience."

In two runs this year Wells Farhh Go has failed to build on his Acomb Stakes success, but on both occasions he has raced too keenly yet still finished quite powerfully, raising hopes that if he settles better the longer trip presented to him at Newmarket could bring about improvement in the William Hill St Leger candidate.

Trainer Tim Easterby said: "He’s in good form and has come out of his race at Royal Ascot well."

Do novice winners hold the key?

Three of the Bahrain Trophy's eight runners will enter the stalls having won a novice contest on their most recent outing, including Godolphin's Loxley, who scored by three lengths over a mile and a quarter on the July course three weeks ago.

The runner-up on that occasion, Raymond Tusk, ran to a Racing Post Rating of 105 when sixth in Saturday's Group 1 Coral-Eclipse.

Loxley is clearly held in high regard, given he was entered in the Juddmonte International which closed as recently as June 26, so it is interesting connections have chosen to up him significantly in trip for his second 2018 mission.

Trainer Charlie Appleby said: "I was pleased with Loxley’s first run of the season and he came out of the race well.

“He won on good to firm ground that day, so similar conditions won’t be a problem, and we hope the step up in trip will see further improvement."

Caliburn looked good when winning at Haydock for Hugo Palmer, who said: "It’s a step up in class, but the way he won at Haydock suggested he’s ready for it. I’m excited about him and I hope he’s a Group horse in the making."

Caliburn was a ready winner at HaydockCredit: Grossick Photography

Taking an even bigger jump in class is Wolverhampton winner Berkshire Blue, whose trainer Andrew Balding said: "It was a low-key maiden he won last time but he did it well and looked to be staying on well.

"We've always liked him and, although we're throwing him in at the deep end, he deserves his place in a race that has good prize-money and should be supported."

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