King Of Change, Bayside Boy - is Cicero's Gift the next Fortune winner destined to take the QEII?

Cicero's Gift is bound for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Day after his taking Listed success at Sandown.

On Wednesday morning Cicero's Gift was a general 100-1 in the ante-post market, but in the aftermath of a two-and-a-half-length success in the Sporting Times Sri Lanka Fortune Stakes he was deemed somewhere between two and four times more likely to win the Ascot Group 1, with firms who cut the five-year-old ranging from as short as 25-1 to no bigger than 50-1.

To strengthen the case, it is a path which has been trodden before. In 2019 Richard Hannon did the double with King Of Change, while in 2022 Roger Varian won both races with Bayside Boy.

And like those two who went before him, Cicero's Gift loves soft ground enough that Charlie Hills is hoping it can make all the difference.

"As long as the ground's on the easy side that's the plan. You never know what can happen, a lot of those horses have had long seasons and he's coming in pretty fresh.

"Plenty of them aren't proven on soft ground, whereas he is, so it might be a bit of a different line-up he's up against compared to usual in those mile races."

On the winning 6-4 favourite, who was ridden by Jason Watson, Hills added: "They went hard and I'm delighted with how well he saw it out. We've been very patient with him this summer and it's been frustrating having to wait all those months of the season but we've always had the QEII in our minds as it can often be heavy going there.

"Back in the spring he wasn't beaten far here by horses like Dancing Gemini. He's got the form, he's been as sound as a pound this season and hopefully his owners' patience can be rewarded."

Two nice types

The novice and maiden on the undercard threw up two promising types, with the Brian Meehan-trained filly Esna beating the boys in the 7f novice, while the regally bred Accredit spread-eagled his two rivals in the mile maiden.

Accredit is a Juddmonte-owned, Dubawi-sired colt out of a half-sister to dual Arc winner Enable and it is a pedigree which not only scared off meaningful opposition, but has blessed the juvenile with more than a modicum of ability.

Accredit wins the mile maiden under Robert HavlinCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

After an easy three-length success, rider Robert Havlin said: "He's laid-back so if they wanted to have a tilt at something they could." Pressed as to how exotic that tilt might be, Havlin did not name a specific race but suggested something at Listed level at a mile would be well within the colt's compass.

Esna's rider Charlie Bishop was similarly evasive on targets after her length and a quarter success, but expects the daughter of Starman to rise to a similar level.

He said: "I knew it'd take something decent to beat her and she went through the race extremely easily.

"She's already good but she'll be better as a three-year-old. You think she'd be capable of getting her black type, she's an exciting filly for connections."

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