Godolphin’s Best Solution is set to make his comeback after a long break from racing, according to trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
The son of Kodiak was crowned ‘Best Horse’ at the 2019 His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Horseracing Excellence Awards on the merits of a 2018 season that saw him win multiple Group 1 contests.
Best Solution (Pic – Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club)
“He’s entered this Saturday,” Bin Suroor confirmed. “He had a hard season last year and we took our time bringing him back. He got a nice break and now he’s back and has trained well. He’s in good form.”
The bay 5-year-old is the early favourite for Kempton Park’s Gr3 September Stakes, the same race the great Enable used as a prep for a second victory in the Gr1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. Early plans may not be so ambitious for the globetrotting Irish-bred.
“We will see how he runs before making any plans,” Bin Suroor said. “We’ll see how he looks after and we hope he runs well.”
Commencing 2018 with four consecutive Meydan races, including a handicap victory during the Dubai World Cup Carnival and a respectable fifth in the $6 million Longines Dubai Gr1 Sheema Classic, the 12-furlong specialist then went on to win a quartet of consecutive races, including the Gr2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket, a pair of Gr1’s in Germany and the prestigious Gr1 Caulfield Cup in Australia.
He finished his nine-run season with a valiant eighth in the Gr1 Melbourne Cup over 3200m after missing the break by five lengths. Best Solution has won Group stakes for three consecutive seasons, dating back to Newmarket’s Gr3 Autumn Stakes in October 2016 as a juvenile.
Bin Suroor also touched on stable star Thunder Snow, who has not been seen since scratching from the Gr1 Whitney Handicap in New York and heading back to his Newmarket base. Future aspirations, which have always included the $6 million Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita as a year-end goal, are currently in the balance.
“He had a temperature in New York,” he said. “He’s getting a small break and there’s no plan for him yet.”
