Trainer William Haggas has changed his plans about his Wolferton Stakes winner Addeybb and is sending him to the Curragh to race in the Group 3 International Stakes jus over a week after his triumph at Royal Ascot.
Haggas has had a re-think on the basis that a lot of warm weather is coming to England meaning the ground is going to dry up which will go against his horses preference for soft conditions.
The five-year-old has had a mixed career since bursting to life on the big stage when landing the Lincoln on his first start as a last season, with the soft ground making life perfect for him in the 20 runner handicap.
From there he backed that up in the Group Two bet365 Mile at Sandown and we thought we had a serious horse on our hands, but he fell off the boil and did not live up to expectations that he had set himself.
His poor run of form after the Group Two victory was not helped by the heatwave that Britain endured in 2018, with Addeybb giving his best performances in soft/slow conditions and a lot of the tracks in the UK being good, good to firm and playing to the strengths of horses who enjoy quick conditions.
Since his win in Esher, he has been less than impressive not looking involved in any of his four races, just looking like a horse that was making up the numbers, including in the Al Shaqab Lockinge next time out.
However, his Royal Ascot run was superb and it saw him get back to near his best form getting a down pouring of rain before his race to see the ground go soft and him romp home.
The winning margin in the Listed Wolferton Stakes was two and a half lengths but if jockey Danny Tudhope really wanted to embarrass the rest of the field he really could have opened up his legs.
He beat some good horses that day which has now given his trainer a happy problem of which race he should be entered into next, with plenty over the next few months fitting the bill for his horse.
The Coral Eclipse was the big race on the card for the gelding but it looks as if these plans have now been scrapped and Addeybb will be racing on Saturday at the Curragh.
(Credit ATR) Haggas said: “With the weather predicted to be warm and dry in England, there is a likelihood that Addeybb will now go to Ireland on Saturday and not the Eclipse.”