John Gosden mulling York options for Enable

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John Gosden will take some time this week before deciding whether or not Enable runs at York during next month’s Ebor Festival.

The superstar mare won a second King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes crown at Ascot on Saturday, holding off Crystal Ocean in a thriller. It was Enable’s 12th successive victory and keeps her firmly on track for an historic attempt to become the first three-time winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October.

That race has always been the goal for this term, with owner Prince Khalid Abdullah having kept the daughter of Nathaniel in training as a five-year-old with the Arc in mind. As such, a run at York next month – where she’s entered in the Yorkshire Oaks and the Juddmonte International – would potentially be Enable’s swansong on British soil.

She’s not certain to be going there, with the Clarehaven handler ready to take a few days to consider his option after the Ascot thriller. “I think we will start making those decisions in the next week,” he said.

“She’s in both races – that would be a later decision. You’re training for the same meeting, so that makes it fairly easy. “But I think the key thing is whether she goes to York at all, or whether we just do the other thing, freshen her up – she runs well fresh – and bring her up to the Arc without having taken any risks in going anywhere else.”

Enable was reported to be in good form 24 hours after Ascot, with Gosden seeing a maturity in her now. He added: “She races more like an old pro now rather than the youthful exuberance of her three-year-old days – she’s a bit more measured in everything, I think.” Enable is 2.10 to win the Juddmonte International at York on August 21.

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