Workforce set for seasonal reappearance at Sandown
Published:Last year’s Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Wokforce looks set to make his first start of the season in Sandown’s Brigadier General Stakes on May 26.
It was thought that Sir Michael Stoute was preparing his Derby winner for a crack at the Tatterstalls Gold Cup in Ireland on Sunday March 22, but it seems Workforce will be eased into a new campaign at Sandown.
Khalid Abdullah’s four-year-old was expected to take on Aiden O’Brien’s highly prized So You Think at the Curragh, but instead Workforce will step back in trip and class for the Sandown race.
Workforce is likely to start the Brigadier General Stakes as a very short favourite and will be expected to win easily, but punters are still clueless as to where Workforce will be targeted this season.
Ladbrokes currently price up Workforce as the 5/1 ante-post favourite in the 2011 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe betting, and it’s highly likely that Workforce will attempt to defend his crown in the prestigious race at Longchamp should his season go to plan.
Lord Stoute is waiting to see how his prized four-year-old fares in his first race of the season, but racing manager to Abdullah, Teddy Grimthorpe, believes Workforce will step up to a mile and a half.
“Michael wants to see how Workforce goes in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, his first intended target, before making any plans,” said Grimthorpe.
“But after that he may want to go the mile and a half route, although races over that trip are limited to the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the King George and the Arc.”
The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is the most prestigious open-age flat race in Britain and it’s there where we are likely to see Workforce and So You Think go head-to-head.
A £10 stake on Workforce winning the Prix de l’Arc would return £60. New customers can sign up here to take advantage of a free bet worth up to £30.
