Old Persian makes St Leger case in Ascot Derby but Appleby not committing yet

Charlie Appleby stopped short of uttering the words "St Leger" when asked where Old Persian might be headed later in the season, but longer distances look sure to figure on the King Edward VII Stakes winner's dance card at some stage and William Buick did not hesitate to answer in the affirmative when popped the question.

Buick, who was moving upsides Ryan Moore on three for the week, the pair snapping at the heels of Frankie Dettori, said: "It will be up to Sheikh Mohammed and Charlie, but if I was asked the question I would certainly agree."

He added: "They went very slow but I moved into position at halfway because I knew my horse would benefit from the extra two furlongs and I wanted to be in a position where I could do something about it. The last furlong was his strongest, so I was very pleased with his performance."

Paddy Power introduced Old Persian to their St Leger market at 10-1 after this victory.

Appleby, whose meeting started with a bang when Blue Point won the King's Stand and was adding the so-called 'Ascot Derby' to the Derby itself, was sweet on Old Persian's chance here.

He was always happy with where Buick had Old Persian in a race in which Frankie Dettori controlled the pace on heavily backed Raa Atoll and the colt stayed on strongly to beat Rostropovich by a length and three-quarters, with Giuseppe Garibaldi a neck back in third. Raa Atoll faded into fourth but John Gosden regards him as a Leger type and will train him accordingly.

Appleby said: "We couldn't find a hole in him coming into the race and we always thought stepping him up to a mile and a half would bring the improvement that was going to be needed to win today.

"He's a typical Dubawi who has improved from two to three, and he'll improve again from three to four, I'm very confident of that. We just wanted to mind him, as we've always liked him and he's got the scope to progress.

"William felt the 1m6f at Doncaster could be something to keep an eye on, but I'm happy to stay at a mile and a half for the foreseeable future because he's shown enough pace to win at a mile and a quarter at a nice level and they've not gone hard today, with Frankie controlling it from the front where he's always dangerous."

After this Group 2 success, Old Persian, who has been ridden at home this year by Oscar Urbina, now has to step up to Group 1 company or carry a penalty in a Group 2.

Appleby has made an entry for him in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp on July 14 but is in no rush to commit him. He said: "We've had a great week, but I don't want to go to the well too often with some of these horses. I'll be a little wiser in a week to ten days."

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