Appleby: Adayar will be stronger next year

TRAINER Charlie Appleby has opened up the possibility of Saturday’s impressive King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes winner Adayar staying in training as a four-yearold next season alongside Irish Derby winning stablemate Hurricane Lane when he believes both colts will be at their physical peak. Adayar became the first Derby winner to land the King George in the same season since Galileo in 2001 with an emphatic length and threequarter win at Ascot. William Buick’s mount now has the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October in his immediate sights while Hurricane Lane is being aimed at the St Leger in September. But if both colts race on into 2022 it would give owner Sheik Mohammed and his Godolphin operation a chance to recreate the glory years of the 1990s when Daylami, Fantastic Light and Swain dominated. Appleby (below) said:

‘Those discussions don’t come until later in the year but I could see no reason why the pair of them would not be in training next year. ‘The world is their oyster at the moment — the mile-and-a-half division is there for them to rule. ‘If anything, Adayar could come back in distance next year. He seems to be getting sharper. He would not have been beaten two furlongs out on Saturday, he had the race covered as soon as he turned in. ‘That is another avenue for the horse when he fully develops.’ Adayar and Hurricane Lane, both sons of Frankel, have only run six times each. Appleby added: ‘You are pinching yourself what they are achieving already, bearing in mind they should be better as four-year-olds even though that sounds daft after Adayar just won the Derby and King George. But he is only going to get stronger as he fills into his frame.’