Tom Marquand is “95 per cent certain” to come in for the plum ride on Perfect
Power in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes, replacing the suspended
Christophe Soumillon.
The Richard Fahey-trained three-year-old was an impressive winner of the Commonwealth Cup on his last visit to Ascot in June.
That success at the Royal meeting was the Ardad colt’s third victory at Group One level, adding to his previous top-level wins as a two-year-old in the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes.
Though he has subsequently disappointed as favourite for both the July Cup at Newmarket and on his return to France for the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville in early August, connections are confident he can return to form after a break.
Bruce Raymond, racing manager to the colt’s owner, Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, is hopeful an unsettled midweek forecast will play to Perfect Power’s strengths.