John Oxx will be depending on Enzeli to give his season a boost when the colt runs in tomorrow week's Ascot Gold Cup.
Enzeli, a cantering winner of the Savel Beg Stakes at Leopardstown on his only start this season, will be Oxx's sole runner at the Royal meeting, a reflection of the comparatively low strike-rate the Curragh trainer has endured this term.
Enzeli, however, has been pleasing Oxx since the Savel Beg, although doubts remain over the Aga Khan-owned colt lasting out the two and a half mile trip.
"We know he stays two miles but the extra half mile in that class is unknown territory. I couldn't be happier with him and he'll be my first Gold Cup runner since Rivelino in the early 1980s," Oxx said yesterday.
The news is slightly less positive of the Moyglare winner Edabiya who is facing a struggle to be ready for the Irish Oaks.
"She was a bit troubled by a knee last year and she wrenched it again before the Irish Guineas. She's perfectly sound now and has had a rest but I'll know more in the next couple of weeks," Oxx reported.
Godolphin's Calando, the French 1,000 Guineas third, is among five British-based acceptors for the French Oaks at Chantilly on Sunday. The John Dunlop pair, Alabaq and Nasheed, plus John Gosden's Apple of Kent and Peter Chapple-Hyam's String Quartet complete the quintet.
