Where Next For Enable?

Enable made her eagerly awaited return to the track after a 245 day layoff, defying a lack of match practice to score over a trip short of her best and on ground firmer than ideal, once more despatching old foe Magical to gain her eighth Group One success and her tenth consecutive victory.

She has added much needed star power to what has been a confusing season in which the classic generation has flattered to deceive, fellow stars such as Masar and the ill fated Sea Of Class have come up short on their reappearances and a pacemaker has won the Irish Derby.

Unlike last year when Gosden’s mare had just one run before landing her second Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the five year old daughter of Nathaniel will have her season mapped out in her bid for an historic third Arc.

It is unlikely she will be gracing the Polytrack of Kempton any time soon, with these looking more realistic targets. Whilst we await her next racecourse assignment, make sure to check out our Horse Racing Tips which are available daily.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes

The scene of a four length demolition job in 2017 of a highly competitive field which included Ulysses, Idaho and Highland Reel, Enable may well have her next start at Ascot on the 27th July.

She is likely to find most opposition from Crystal Ocean who in typical Stoute fashion is hitting top form at the age of five, posting a career best RPR of 128 when winning over ten furlongs on soft ground in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

Stoute’s stable star was held in September at Kempton on their sole meeting, although he has a three pound pull in the weights, and excels at Ascot, twice a winner there and only denied by a neck in this race last year by Poet’s Word. Now officially rated two pounds higher than Enable, he could well be a match for her.

Other potential rivals include the improving Defoe who won the Hardwicke over track and trip after winning the Coronation Cup at Epsom, Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck who needs to bounce back after an underwhelming run in the Irish Derby and Japan who was a similarly impressive winner here in the King Edward VII Stakes.

Juddmonte International Stakes

Enable will most likely have her preparation run at York in late August. Having proven her efficacy over ten furlongs when winning this Saturday, connections may well be tempted to face a similar trip in their very own Juddmonte International with its £567,100 purse.

She would face a similar field to that which she would encounter at Ascot, with possible rivals including Crystal Ocean, Magical and Anthony Van Dyck. Fresh challengers could be Circus Maximus who won the St. James’s Palace Stakes dropped back to a mile, and Benbatl who could return to the track for the first time since chasing home another feminine star in Winx.

Darley Yorkshire Oaks

Held a day after the Juddmonte International on the 22nd August, offering just two-fifths of the prize money, this would certainly represent an easier assignment prior to the Arc, with the absence of Sea Of Class who has had to retire following a bout of colic likely to render this an open goal for Enable who won this in 2017.

The Gosden yard dominate the early entries for this with Coronet, whom Enable conquered twice in 2017 including here, who gained a belated Group One success in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud at the end of June, Lah Ti Dar, who is now four starts without a win in Group One company, and Oaks winner Anapurna.

A P O’Brien has a number of entrants, all of whom have plenty to find with Enable at the current moment in time. Dual Guineas winner Hermosa would need to improve markedly for the extra four furlongs to even get close to threatening the star mare.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

All roads of course lead to Paris Longchamp with Enable bidding for an historic third Arc, for which she is currently best odds of 13/8. An impressive winner at Chantilly in 2017 from Cloth Of Stars, she enjoyed a tortuous preparation for the 2018 edition at Longchamp, scoring snugly from a staying on Sea Of Class.

She will be bidding to do what Treve could not in 2015, and gain a third win in the race. With the usual host of already conquered rivals and stablemates to contend with here, there are only a few minor obstacles to her completing the treble.

The first, and perhaps most significant, is the risk of injury, and secondly the unexposed home challenger Sottsass who overcame Persian King to win the Prix du Jockey Club in June. Whether Jean-Claude Rouget’s colt has what it takes to surpass an Enable most likely to be running at her peak, is another matter however.

A third Arc would most likely be the finale to what has been an extraordinary racing career for the peerless five year old, leading to a career as a broodmare in which she would covet the leading stallions in the world of racing.