Deauville the aim for unbeaten Quddwah

Quddwah is set to put his unbeaten record on the line in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville.

After winning his first two starts at Salisbury in Newmarket in May of last year, the Kingman colt belatedly completed his hat-trick after 12 months off the track in Ascot’s Paradise Stakes.

The four-year-old was all set to head to Royal Ascot for the Queen Anne before unsatisfactory blood test results scuppered his participation, and connections must have been left wondering what might have been after the second and third from the Paradise Stakes, Docklands and Maljoom, were placed again.

Simon and Ed Crisford rerouted Quddwah to the Group Two Summer Mile back at Ascot and having seen him stretch his record to four from four with an authoritative victory, Ed Crisford feels the time has come to test his powers at the highest level in France next month.

He said: “He’s heading for the Jacques le Marois. He’s come out of the Summer Mile very well, so we’ll head there and see how we get on in top-level company.

“He’s very lightly-raced and still learning on the job really, but with each run he’s going to mature more and we feel he’s ready for Group One company now and we’ll see how we get on.”