Ascot-bound Bridge will avoid Caviar
Little Bridge will be on trial for a trip to Royal Ascot in the Sprint Cup later this month, but trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing said his stable star will have just one start in England, describing a possible clash with unbeaten mare Black Caviar as 'pointless'.
A win in the Group Two Sprint Cup (1,200m) on Audemars Piguet QE II Cup day (April 29) would see Little Bridge head to the King's Stand Stakes (1,000m) on June 29, where he could face local rival Joy And Fun, who trainer Derek Cruz confirmed as a likely runner.
Shum ruled out backing up four days later over 1,200m in the Silver Jubilee Stakes, the race where Australian superstar Black Caviar is due to make her international debut.
'That's the plan, but it isn't finalised. We'll see how he runs on the 29th. If he runs well, we will go,' Shum said.
'Black Caviar will be going over 1,200m and there's no point racing her, and my horse is good up the 1,000m straight. He will just run in the one race there.'
After winning the Jockey Club Sprint early in the season, Little Bridge was disappointing in three subsequent runs, but bounced back to form with a dominant victory in the Bauhinia Sprint Trophy two weeks ago.
Cruz is waiting for owners to give him the green light to finalise plans for eight-year-old Joy And Fun to return to Ascot, where he suffered a serious leg injury two years ago.
'We're a very strong chance of going back, for both races,' said Cruz, who reported Joy And Fun had returned from Dubai in good health.
Joy And Fun was third in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan two weeks ago. Cruz said the gelding would go to Ascot first-up with no lead-up run.
