Godolphin’s Opinion Poll to compete in the Betfair Henry II Stakes at Sandown
Opinion Poll is en route to Sandown to crush all competition in the Betfair Henry II Stakes on 31st May, 2012, after which he might compete at Royal Ascot to claim the Gold Cup.
Owned by Godolphin and trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni, the bay horse downed a terrific victory in the Group 3 Dubai Gold Cup Sponsored By Al Tayer Motors at Meydan on 31st March, 2012, where he was guided to victory by jockey,
Frankie Dettori.
With his swift pace, he set the track on fire and defeated the Marco Botti trained, Joshua Tree, by ¾ of a length.
Godolphin’s Ley Hunter will enter this race provided the ground is suitable for him. If he competes, he will be making his debut for trainer Saeed Bin Suroor, as he was previously trained by A. Fabre.
The son of Kingmambo, out of mare Lailani, has competed in this season, but the last two starts of his previous seasons were beyond remarkable.
The five-year-old downed his previous victory in the Group 3 Qatar Prix Gladiateur at Longchamp in September 2011, where he stole the victory from right under, Tac De Boistron’s nose, as he broke through the wire a short-head before him.
Thimaar, the son of Dynaformer, out of mare Jinaan, will not be able to compete in this race.
The talented bay and brown gelding won the start at Kempton when he competed in the Betfred The Bonus King Queen's Prize on 7th April, 2012, where he defeated race favourite, Gulf Of Naples, by 1 length.
Representative of owner Sheikh Hamdan stated to the press that:
"He wasn't quite right so he wasn't declared. Hopefully it's nothing serious. The plan was to run him, but he wasn't quite 100%.
"We'll leave him in the Gold Cup along with Nehaam and Hawaafez as well. We're not going to run all three of them. We will see nearer the time which of them are up to it."
Among the line-up are Ibicenco, Askar Tau, Aaim To Prosper, Chiberta King, Old Hundred and Zuider Zee, who are entering the race in an attempt to succeed.
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