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Juddmonte International option for Barney Roy

Ulysses just holds off Barney Roy to win the 2017 Coral-Eclipse under Jim Crowley.
Image: Ulysses just holds off Barney Roy to win the Coral-Eclipse

Richard Hannon has not yet decided whether to send Barney Roy to York for next month's Juddmonte International ahead of his likely appearance in the Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Runner-up to Churchill in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in the spring, the Godolphin-owned colt gained his revenge in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He stepped up to a mile and a quarter for the first time in last weekend's Coral-Eclipse and ran a fantastic race to beaten just a nose by Ulysses after a titanic tussle up the Sandown hill.

Barney Roy looks set to stick to a mile and a quarter for the foreseeable future and the Juddmonte International on August 23 and the Champion Stakes on October 21 are the two races under consideration.

Hannon said: "You know the options - it's York for the Juddmonte then the Champion Stakes or just the Champion Stakes, but we'll speak to the team.

"What happened at Sandown was such a shame, but he achieved an awful lot for a horse that got beaten so narrowly.

"He got the trip, we learned a lot, he gained a lot and lost nothing. We didn't get a cup, but I'm sure he'll get many cups in the future.

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"The horse is in great nick and he is very easy. Choosing his targets is not very easy.

"He is still in the Sussex (at Goodwood), but it's got to be doubtful. It looks like he should be going a mile and a quarter now. He stayed it very well in the Eclipse and proved the fact that he is one of the best three-year-olds, if not the best three-year-old, around.

"The future is extremely bright for him this year and next."

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