Thanks for correction Hibby, have had a long day.
Rip Van Winkle taken out of King George
AIDAN O'BRIEN has six possibles to choose from in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 25 but missing is Rip Van Winkle, who has instead been given a surprise entry ing the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 5.
A total of 20 possibles remain in the Betfair-backed Group 1, including dual Classic winner Sea The Stars.
O'Brien, who won the race with Duke Of Marmalade last year, has the four-year-old Frozen Fire, plus three-year-olds Black Bear Island, Freemantle, Golden Sword, Masterofthehorse and Rockhampton.
Sir Michael Stoute still has four engaged, Ask, Conduit, Doctor Fremantle and Tartan Bearer, while international interest could come in the shape of It's Gino, who is trained in Germany by Pavel Vovcenko.
Rip Van Winkle, who had been as short as 5-1 for the King George, figured among 41 entries for the 6f Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup on Wednesday.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has only two other entries in the 6f contest, Gluteus Maximus and Heart Shaped, but will wait to see how Rip Van Winkle fares in his next start, over a mile at Goodwood, before working out plans.
"The Betfred Sprint Cup entry will give us an option for Rip Van Winkle,” said O’Brien.
“He has always shown unbelievable speed at home and he travelled very well in the Coral-Eclipse on Saturday.
"We'll see how things go for him in the BGC Sussex Stakes, which is likely to be his next race, and decide then what direction we might go with distance wise."
Golden Jubilee winner Art Connoisseur, 'Greek freak' Ialysos and South African sprint star J J The Jet Plane are other notable names among the entries.
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