Connections are in no rush to outline their next move for Sparkling Plenty after the Prix de Diane heroine produced a fine effort in defeat in the Nassau Stakes.
Subject of a £5million deal that saw Al Shaqab Racing join Jean Pierre Dubois on the ownership ticket earlier this summer, Sparkling Plenty made her first start in the silks of the Qatar-based operation when a valiant third behind Opera Singer at Goodwood. Patrice Cottier’s charge ran on powerfully in the closing stages of that Group One fillies and mares feature to delight her team with what was a narrow one-length defeat.
In the immediate aftermath her handler suggested putting her stamina to the test in the Prix Vermeille could be next for the daughter of Kingman as connections work their way towards deciding which race to contest on Arc day in early October.
However, Rupert Pritchard-Gordon, racing consultant to Al Shaqab in France, stressed their star acquisition will be given plenty of time to recover from her exertions on the Sussex Downs before future plans are contemplated.
“Everyone was very very pleased (with the run) because it was a genuine challenge,” explained Pritchard-Gordon. "The filly is trained in Calas which is very close to Marseille and it was a long-old journey for her in midsummer.
“One thing she has is a great constitution and she’s been busy and hasn’t missed a beat from the spring into summer and has gone and run another really, really commendable race in England. The team are very happy with her here and Patrice has been pleased with her since – she got home safely and had a good trip back.
“She’s going to have a little freshen up now and we’ll get together in a few weeks time and make a plan. Patrice knows her very well and we won’t rush into a decision as to her next race.”
As well as racing six times prior to her raiding mission to Goodwood, Sparkling Plenty also had to combat both a stifling heatwave that hit Cottier’s base near to the Mediterranean coast and an arduous trip to the UK that involved a brief stop-over in Chantilly. Therefore few would argue the daughter of Kingman has earned some mid-season down time, especially not her team.
Pritchard-Gordon continued: “We will just let the filly tell us (when she is ready) and with her being trained down in the south of France – as you can imagine we’ve been having to keep an eye on the weather down there knowing that the heatwave that came up from Spain, conditions were getting very warm there. It’s hard for people in England to understand and we’re not talking a hot day in England, those day and night temperatures where she is are very different.
“It was a very good performance and her team have done a very good job with her. She had a two-day stop-over in Chantilly just to freshen-up and stretch her legs before she completed the second part of the journey to Goodwood. She seems to have handled it well and we will just be guided by her.”
For now connections can begin to dream of what the future brings, with Sparkling Plenty sure to be not short of options when she returns from her deserved breather and top-class contests both home and abroad set to come on the agenda.
Pritchard-Gordon added: “She’s only a three-year-old who puts a lot into her races, she’s very genuine and very classy. But because she is in that league where she is one of the best three-year-old fillies in Europe she will have options. The way the race programme works out in Europe and further abroad there is options in the end of summer and into the autumn.
“Everyone knows the big races on Arc weekend and that would hopefully be an aim to bring her to Longchamp. She’s in the Opera and that might be the race for her there, but we will see nearer the time.”
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