Criterion Still Headed for Royal Ascot

Sebring’s globe-trotting superstar son Criterion finished a brave third in the Group I Audemars Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday behind Blazing Speed with connections still keen to head to Royal Ascot with the triple Group I winner.

David Hayes, who co-trains Criterion with Tom Dabernig, told the South China Morning Post the four-year-old entire would travel to England on Tuesday.

“He couldn’t get cover and he was a little bit keen,” Hayes said.

”Craig Williams said he didn’t want to get stuck in behind leader, Same World, who was a big outsider, so he came two wide and probably that didn’t suit the horse as well as having cover.

“It was still a brave effort, two weeks after running in Sydney and having travel in between.”

The Group I Prince Of Wales’s Stakes over a mile and a quarter, a race won by the great champion So You Think in 2012, is the most likely target for Criterion at Royal Ascot.