Gosden anticipating tough test on Sweet William return

Sweet William has been set a stiff task as he returns to action in Friday’s Boodles Yorkshire Cup at York.

John and Thady Gosden’s six-year-old was second over this distance in the Ebor in 2023 and enjoyed a very competitive campaign last year when making the frame in each of six starts at Group level.

He be ridden as usual by Robert Havlin, whose first task will be getting safely to post ahead of the Group Two, before contending with the likes of Rebel’s Romance, who sets the standard as a seven-time Group One winner but experimenting with a new extended trip.

John Gosden said: “The old boy runs in the Yorkshire Cup and they’ve gone and put a dual Breeders’ Cup winner in against him!

“I phoned up Charlie Appleby and told him this isn’t cricket, doing this!

“He will need the race. He doesn’t do a lot at home and the biggest problem for the jockey will be staying on board because he is very fresh first time out.

“He will be bucking and plunging, so it might be a bit of a rodeo show.”

Appleby’s Rebel’s Romance has plenty of stamps on his passport having plied his trade in Britain, Germany, America, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Dubai.

After winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf in November he spent his winter in the Middle East, defending his title in the relocated Amir Trophy at Al Uqda before coming home fourth in the Sheema Classic at Meydan.

He comes into the race a 16-time winner but despite extensive travel, his Yorkshire Cup bid will represent a first experience of the Knavesmire along with an introduction to the extended one-mile-six-furlong trip.

“Rebel’s Romance goes into this in great shape,” Appleby told the Godolphin website.

“He is stepping up a couple of furlongs, but we feel that it should be within his compass.

“If he does get the trip, he will obviously be a leading player. I can’t fault how he well he is at the moment, he looks fantastic, and I think the track at York will suit as well.”

The sole Irish runner in the line up is Aidan O’Brien’s Continuous, who also spent his winter in warmer climes and was third in the Red Sea Turf before coming home ninth in the Dubai Gold Cup.

The five-year-old is not a stranger to York and has some smart form there having won the Great Voltigeur Stakes and placed third in the Dante as a three-year-old.

Andrew Balding’s Alsakib, winner of the John Smith’s Silver Cup, joins the field of five alongside David O’Meara’s Epic Poet.