Haydock not the track for Lazzat after beaten Sprint Cup effort

Jerome Reynier felt the six-furlong course at Haydock could have proved too sharp for Lazzat after he was a beaten favourite in the Betfair Sprint Cup.

The four-year-old blazed a trail in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Ascot on his penultimate start, setting a new course record as he fended off the Japanese raider Satono Reve at the Royal meeting.

He subsequently met with defeat in the six-and-a-half-furlong Prix Maurice de Gheest and while punters still had plenty of confidence in his chance on Merseyside, sending him off the evens market leader, Lazzat fell short at the finish, coming home a two-and-a-half-length fifth behind Big Mojo.

Reynier and owners Wathnan Racing now face the choice of returning to Ascot on Qipco Champions Day for the Sprint, or moving back up to seven furlongs for the Prix de la Foret on Arc weekend, with the trainer sure a stiffer test will suit.

He said: “It’s a six-furlong proper sprint and he had horses all around him and it was maybe a bit too sharp for him, so maybe next month there will be a bit more cut in the ground over six furlongs in the Champions Sprint or in the Foret over seven furlongs.

“We have to chat about the next race with connections, but it was my fear that he likes to be on top of the game, in front and leading and today at the three-furlong marker he (jockey James Doyle) was already asking him to keep up and he stayed on well.

“He was happy with the way he fought and he wasn’t beaten far. That’s just a bit too sharp for him I think today.”

Following a second successive defeat, Reynier also raised the possibility his record-setting run at Ascot had left more of a mark than anticipated.

He added: “The six furlongs at Ascot is much stiffer and that is probably more his game. I think the Maurice de Gheest was under his best and once again it’s a little bit lower than I would have expected.

“When you beat course records, like at Ascot, it’s not an easy task and obviously some horses take a long while to recover, so we will have to see if he’s all good.”

Wathnan Racing were well represented in the race and last year’s runner up Kind Of Blue continued his recent renaissance by taking second place again, a nose ahead of Flora Of Bermuda for the same owner.

Having started the year by entirely fluffing the start in France before a disappointing Newcastle run, his trainer James Fanshawe has taken heart from his third place in the Phoenix Sprint last time and this run ahead of the defence of his British Champions Sprint title next month.

The trainer said: “Really pleased, delighted with him. After a very sticky start, he’s coming back to himself.

“He ran well in Ireland and he’s run a blinder today and we’re looking forward to Ascot.”

The Andrew Balding-trained Flora Of Bermuda could also be on her way to Ascot, with the trainer’s wife Anna Lisa saying: “I am absolutely delighted. She is such a superstar.

“We just hope one day she’ll get one of these but to be third in another Group One is magnificent.

“We are so thrilled to be training for Wathnan and I am thrilled for Mick Appleby too.

“I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t look at Ascot now. She was third in it last year I think and today was the third time she has come third in a Group One race.”