Never Can Tell unlikely to run in Gold Cup at Ascot
Jamie Osborne’s 5-year-old mare, Never Can Tell, is unlikely to take part in the Gold Cup, taking place at Ascot next month. After staying out of action for more than seven months, the bay mare made her comeback in the StanJames.com Chester Cup at the start of this month.
The spectators at Chester saw her finishing eighth behind Ile De Re. With the odds of 11-1, the mare started off the proceedings with a lot of expectations on her shoulders.
Under Frankie Dettori, she failed to make an impression, falling eighth by a massive margin of 27 lengths. The five-year-old chased the leaders during most part of the race, but got weakened in the final stages of the competition.
Since she failed to do anything special in the final moments, it was almost impossible for her to make an impact. It was a massive setback for Osborne, who does not want to take any risk in the near future.
The trainer insisted that even though the 2m2½f outing on soft surface at Chester stretched her stamina to some extent, the 2m4f Gold Cup might not be an ideal option for the mare.
"We were concerned about running her over that trip on that ground and she clearly didn't stay. We're just going to sit on the fence a while. She's in the Gold Cup, but that would be highly unlikely now,” Osborne said on At The Races.
He added: "We're more likely to run her in a handicap and if she comes down a pound, she'll be able to run in the Ascot Stakes I think. She's a good filly, but extreme distances on soft ground are just too much for her."
Never Can Tell went on a long vacation after demonstrating a splendid work at Newmarket in October last year. The Class 2 Betfred Cesarewitch (Heritage Handicap) saw her seizing the top place by one and a half lengths. So far in her career, the dashing mare has registered five victories.
According to the current card, more than two dozen runners have entered the Gold Cup. The mega event is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 21st.
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