Leading three year old for William Haggas, Mohaafeth is said to be aimed at the Group Three Hampton Court Stakes at the royal meeting this month after being a late withdrawal from the Epsom Derby on Saturday.
The son of Frankel has been seen three times this season and has landed a hat-trick of wins having got off the mark for his career at Lingfield in March in a Novice Stakes and he then backed that up in a handicap at Newmarket over 1m2f.
His best performance of the season came last time out when landing the Listed Newmarket Stakes over 1m2f, seeing off the smart Secret Protector by an easy five lengths, never really having to come off the bridle.
He was third favourite for the Derby, but his handler did warn that if everything wasn't right for him he would not run and that was the case.
The colt now looks set to be heading to Royal Ascot into the Hampton Court Stakes, and with him currently unbeaten for the term, he looks tough to beat.
(Credit ATR) Angus Gold, racing manager for owners Shadwell Estate Company Ltd, said: “William has always been quoted as saying this horse wants fast ground.
He looks interesting - Mohaafeth (Frankel) travels like a nice one on handicap debut up in trip and brings up the treble for William Haggas at @NewmarketRace @JimCrowley1978 pic.twitter.com/Hl0ry1HGko
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 14, 2021
“We all walked the track and we thought it was probably fine to run, but William made the point that it wasn’t his ground and his feeling was that he wasn’t going to win it in that ground.
“If you did run you’d risk messing up Ascot, it’s the middle of the season and we need to know where we’re going with this horse.
“If he’d run seventh or eighth and had a hard race and hadn’t recovered in time for Ascot, we’re getting to July without knowing what sort of horse we’ve got to go to war with, so to speak.
“William just felt it wasn’t the right thing to do to run him.”
Mohaafeth is entered in the King Edward VII Stakes on Friday week, but is set to run instead over a mile and a quarter at Group Three level.
Gold added: “It’s most likely he’ll run in the mile-and-a-quarter race, I would think. There is quite a body of opinion around the horse that thinks he might end up a mile-and-a-quarter horse.
“We weren’t sure about the mile and a half going into the Derby. I’ve noticed his breeder has been quoted twice now, saying she doesn’t think he’d stay – and he has got a lot of speed, this horse.
“Maybe it will turn out a mile and a quarter is his best trip – time will tell.”