Gold Cup champion Trawlerman is set to wear a pair of ski goggles to aid his title defence at next week's five-day Royal Ascot meeting. The staying star captured the country's historic long-distance prize when completing a seven-length rout of his rivals in track record time 12 months ago.
Eye condition forces unusual measure
Last month, co-trainer John Gosden warned that the Godolphin horse might not make the line-up this year, having missed his planned warm-up race at Sandown last month as he hadn't come to hand. However, he is back on schedule for Thursday's £700,000 showpiece after being included among 13 confirmations for the Group 1 contest on Friday.
Sensitivity to bright sunlight
Trawlerman has regularly raced in a hood, but when he reappears in the Royal Ascot parade ring next week, he will also be sporting a set of ski goggles if it's a sunny day. “He did have a strange infection in his eyes about 18 months ago, which he seemed to get over,” Gosden told Mirror Racing. “Now it's become this sensitivity to bright sunlight. His box is shaded and all that, but when he is out in bright sunlight we tend to put the goggles on him to diminish it, just like people put dark glasses on.”
Gosden said Trawlerman would wear the goggles in the paddock and on the way to post but not during the race. “The point being that when you are actually in action in a race, the light isn't probably going to bother him,” Gosden continued. “It's when he's standing there, then it can cause him pain. He's been all right and exercising him has been fine.”
Challenging title defence
Gosden acknowledged the difficulty of the task ahead. “He's probably trying to do the impossible by running first time up in a Gold Cup. It's demanding to go there without a prep race. Going two and a half miles at racing pace, it's not like you're going steady. It's a lot to ask first time out.”
