Pyledriver likely to sidestep Royal Ascot and wait for King George

Trainer William Muir wants his bargain-buy colt to be at his best for July race

Pyledriver ridden by jockey Martin Dwyer (right) wins the Coronation Cup at Epsom last Friday. Photograph: PA
Pyledriver ridden by jockey Martin Dwyer (right) wins the Coronation Cup at Epsom last Friday. Photograph: PA

The hugely popular Coronation Cup winner Pyledriver is likely to sidestep next week's Royal Ascot action and wait for a tilt at the King George in July.

The bargain-buy colt got the better of an epic battle with Al Aasy at Epsom and his trainer is leaning towards giving Pyledriver more time to recover rather than tackling the Hardwicke Stakes.

"Royal Ascot was going to be the next race. But he's going to need to knock the door down for me to be going there – otherwise we'll wait for the King George," said William Muir.

“If he comes mad fresh by Monday when the confirmation stage is, then I’d think about it.

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“But it was quite a battle on Friday. He might just need longer than two weeks to get back to his best. There’s no point going there if we’re not over this race,” he added.

Chasing debut

The latest summer "National" takes place at Roscommon on Tuesday when 15 line up for the €21,000 Connacht National.

Dermot McLoughlin, who memorably won the Irish Grand National on Easter Monday with the 150-1 Freewheelin Dylan, is represented by both Lord Lariat and The Echo Boy.

Lord Lariat should relish quick ground conditions but perhaps not as much as his former stable companion Shanroe Al C at the bottom of the weights.

Bold Enough showed enough aptitude for fences on his chasing debut at Wexford that he should prove hard to beat for the in-form Henry de Bromhead in a novice chase.

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor is the racing correspondent of The Irish Times. He also writes the Tipping Point column