Jim Goldie has raised the tantalising prospect that last season’s Group 1-winning sprinter American Affair could return from his lengthy absence an even better horse.
Not seen in action since winning the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot last June, the six-year-old has been given plenty of time to get over a fetlock joint injury, which Goldie believes he might have been carrying during that momentous success.
American Affair is set to start on the route back to the royal meeting in the newly-named Go Local Stores Minster Stakes at York today, having been forced to miss the second half of last year.
“He had boney changes in his fetlock joint and once we’d found it on the MRI scan, we had to let it take its course by giving him a proper break,” said Goldie.
“Whether we can get back to the level he was at, I don’t know, but he’s a very good horse and he might actually improve. The bones are always remodelling and I’ve got a notion it was there from the year before.
If he was carrying that injury before, hopefully we can get him back there without an injury.
“We haven’t had any reoccurrence of it since he’s come back into full work. He went for a racecourse gallop at Musselburgh about a month ago and a day away often brings them on.”
Given the time American Affair has had off the track, Goldie expects his stable star to come on for his run in the six-furlong Group 2 at York, where he is to be reunited with regular rider Paul Mulrennan against 12 rivals headed by Big Mojo, who carries a Group 1 penalty for his win in the Sprint Cup at Haydock in September, and last year’s Commonwealth Cup winner Time For Sandals.
American Affair won a 5f handicap at the Dante meeting last year and then finished fifth in the Temple Stakes at Haydock before providing Goldie with his first Group 1 win in the King Charles III.
“He’s been galloping for the last three months and has been working well; he’s maybe getting a little bit lazier but he is a year older,” Goldie said.
“I think he’ll improve for the outing and I’d be happier if it was over five furlongs but he ran well at York last year.
He’s won over a stiff five at Ascot, so six at York should be well within his stamina.
“The only negative is our spring has been very late this year and he doesn’t look like a Group 1 horse at the moment as he’s still to get his coat yet. All roads lead to Ascot and we’ll see what we think after he’s run at York.”
Also at York today, the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes, a key Oaks trial, has attracted a field of six, featuring last year’s Fillies’ Mile fourth Legacy Link, who is fifth in the Oaks betting at 12-1, the Ed Walker-trained Felicitas, who is unbeaten in two starts, and the Aidan O’Brien-trained Moments Of Joy, the mount of Ryan Moore.
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