'He'd kick you out of his box, he's that well in himself' - is Trawlerman's stablemate his main danger in Lonsdale Cup?

I’m a big believer in the theory that horses can bring each other on; the idea being that running against a better quality of rival makes you better yourself.

There was a good example of that during the Frankel era when his vanquished rivals dominated after he left. Excelebration was beaten five times by Sir Henry Cecil's superstar but won two Group 1s in the mile division after his arch rival was sent up in trip, while Farhh twice finished behind that outstanding champion before winning the Lockinge and Champion Stakes the year after he was retired.

It looks as though we are about to witness a similar phenomenon with Trawlerman, who twice proved no match for the outstanding Kyprios last season but has dominated the staying division since his great rival departed. He has simply taken his form to another level this season. 

A five-length victory in the Henry II Stakes at Sandown, followed by a seven-length drubbing of his rivals in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, earned him a career-highest Racing Post Rating of 123 and only Kyprios has bettered that in a staying race over recent campaigns.

William Buick and Trawlerman routed the Gold Cup field at Royal Ascot Credit: Getty Images for Ascot Racecours

Trawlerman has the weight to show for his new-found superiority over the division and gives it away all round under a 3lb penalty for his Gold Cup win, but he still sets a very high standard.

Aidan O’Brien has been hastily searching his stable for a successor to Kyprios and initial hopes that Illinois would be the answer were put to bed when he finished seven lengths behind Trawlerman in the Gold Cup. He was also turned over by Scandinavia at Goodwood.

O’Brien doesn’t send Scandinavia or Illinois this time and instead relies on Shackleton, who like Scandinavia is a three-year-old and, while the Classic generation haven’t enjoyed much recent success in this race, only four horses of that age have run since the beginning of 2010.

The last winning three-year-old was Double Eclipse in 1995, but he was making it seven wins from 12 runnings for horses of that age and a win for Shackleton would hint at a re-emerging trend. 

Sweet William and Al Qareem are the established performers, but Sweet William has yet to reproduce the form he showed when beaten three times by Kyprios last season and maybe course specialist Al Qareem is the bigger danger of the two. He is three from five at York.
Analysis by Graeme Rodway

Could Sweet William trouble his illustrious stablemate?

Sweet William is hardly unexposed but Philippa Cooper's son of Sea The Stars has been mixing it with the best stayers around since being touched off here in the Ebor two years ago, finishing in the frame ten times in 11 consecutive starts at Group level. 

Sweet William and Robert Havlin after exercising on the July courseCredit: Edward Whitaker

The exception was when he finished a tired and distant fourth in this year's Gold Cup when put into the race earlier than is often the case, but jockey Robert Havlin knows the John and Thady Gosden-trained six-year-old inside out, and believes his old sparring partner is in roaring form as he bids to get the better of stablemate Trawlerman.

"He ran his usual race at Goodwood and in the Yorkshire Cup it turned into a bit of a three-furlong sprint, but he still managed to run well," said Havlin. "I rode him this morning, and he’s in absolutely tremendous form. If you tried to put a quarter mark on him he’d kick you out of the box, he’s that well in himself. 

"There should be a good bit of pace in there with Trawlerman and a true-run race. He likes tracks like York and Doncaster."

What they say

Thady Gosden, joint-trainer of Trawlerman
He won the Gold Cup in good style and we gave him a freshen up afterwards, deciding to wait for this race. He's won the Ebor and two miles around York should suit him well.

Tom Clover, trainer of Al Nayyir
He ran very well in this last year. This is a smaller field, but it looks a very deep race. He's in good shape and I’m very pleased with how he's trained. I don’t know whether he comes to himself at this time of year but he certainly looks to have come forward. Hopefully he can run a really nice race, although we’re under no illusions that this is really tough against Trawlerman, who’s exceptional. He deserves to be in this line-up and he’s not without a chance of being in the frame.

Silvestre de Sousa and Dubai Future winning the Dubai Gold Cup at MeydanCredit: Dubai Racing Club/Liesl King

Saeed bin Suroor, trainer of Dubai Future
The ground is important to Dubai Future, and ideally we'd like it to remain good to firm. He came out of Goodwood in good form.
Reporting by Scott Burton

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