Sardinian Warrior might have earned Ascot ticket

Sardinian Warrior produced a career-best effort when chasing home Andre Fabre’s Sosie in the Prix d’Ispahan and Royal Ascot may now beckon.

John and Thady Gosden’s four-year-old was only beaten a length by the top-class winner, who is now heading for the Coral-Eclipse.

Connections believe the nine-furlong trip stretched his stamina and a return to a mile is in store, potentially in the Queen Anne.

“It was a good move to go there. What we learned in doing that was a mile is definitely his trip,” said owner Marc Chan’s racing manager, Jamie McCalmont.

“The winner is a top-class horse and to be beaten only a length by a horse of that class when we probably ran out of gas, I think it was a lot better run that it looks.

“Normally I have a bit of a meltdown after finishing second as I often think we’ve been unlucky, but on this occasion we were unlucky when Andre Fabre supplemented the winner on Thursday – that’s when it got unlucky!

“He’s a cool horse, he’s got a great mind and he’s a horse to like.

“We’ll see how he comes out of the race, the Queen Anne is not set in stone at this point but it is very tempting.”