Ryan Moore's plans for next week's Derby and Oaks will be keenly anticipated but in the shorter term the Englishman's services have been snapped up by Willie Mullins for his old ally Simenon in Thursday's Group 3 Henry II Stakes at Sandown.
Moore memorably brought off a Royal Ascot double in 2012 on Mullins’s dual-purpose star who hasn’t been seen in action since winning over hurdles at Tipperary last July.
However, some bookmakers have installed Simenon as favourite for an eight-runner two-mile contest which could serve as a warm-up for another tilt at next month's Ascot Gold Cup for which the Mullins star is currently as low as 16-1.
Simenon was fourth to Leading Light in last year's Gold Cup and prior to that was runner up to Estimate in the race in 2013. Moore's selection headache for next week's Epsom classic action is one his colleagues would relish but with four of the first five in the Oaks betting owned by Coolmore, including the 1,000 Guineas heroine Legatissimo, his final decision will be informative.
Sunday’s Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Found currently tops the Oaks betting but she is also described as a “possible” to line up in the following day’s Derby. Supplementary entries for the “blue-riband” can be made this Monday.
“The plan is to come to Epsom, probably for the Oaks but possibly for the Derby,” admitted a Coolmore spokesman.
