Item is set to join stablemate Blue Bolt on the trip to Ireland next week, with Andrew Balding stating his intention to have a crack at the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes with the Juddmonte International Stakes hero.<\/p>\n
Balding had hinted at a return to further for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with the Frankel colt, but before a trip to ParisLongchamp comes under consideration, Item will first head to Leopardstown for what could prove a huge afternoon for both the Kingsclere team and owners Juddmonte, with Blue Bolt also in action in the Matron Stakes.<\/p>\n
Balding told the Press Association: “I\u2019m very happy with both Item and Blue Bolt and I\u2019m hoping they will both go to Leopardstown.<\/p>\n
“The Arc is still in the picture for Item, but he wouldn\u2019t want to go a mile and a half on soft ground, that\u2019s for sure. He\u2019ll go to Ireland and then see.”<\/p>\n
Item is currently 3-1 with Paddy Power for one of the features of the Irish Champions Festival, with Aidan O\u2019Brien\u2019s Constitution River the even-money favourite for the Group One showpiece, while the Balding runner is a general 12-1 chance for the Arc on October 4.<\/p>\n
Europe\u2019s richest middle-distance prize is also under consideration once again for star mare Kalpana, who has enjoyed a dream season adding the Yorkshire Oaks to the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes she landed previously on the Knavesmire last month.<\/p>\n
The thriving five-year-old was seventh on the Bois de Boulogne behind Daryz last year and is currently enjoying a short break before her team build her up to conclude her fine campaign either on the continent or back at her beloved Ascot in search of a third British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes.<\/p>\n
Balding added: “Kalpana has two autumn targets that we\u2019re considering, but we will know more nearer the time. Obviously they are the Arc and Ascot.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Item is set to join stablemate Blue Bolt on the trip to Ireland next week, with Andrew Balding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-613476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}