George Scott will step impressive juvenile Piz Nair up in class, according him an entry in the Betfred Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, following success at Windsor on Monday evening.
Owned by the Niarchos family, the well-bred colt improved from his close-up debut fourth over the same six-furlong course and distance, taking division two of the British Stallion Studs EBF Novice Stakes by half a length under Callum Shepherd.
Though he showed some signs of immaturity, Scott feels he could go on to better things.
“Piz Nair is a lovely horse,” said the young Newmarket trainer. “He is a Bated Breath colt out of a Galileo mare and has a lot of quality.
“The Niarchos family have been huge supporters of mine from day one and we trained plenty of winners for them early on, but things haven’t quite panned out, so it is lovely to have another nice horse for them.”
Piz Nair has yet to fill his frame and Scott sees him as a better three-year-old, though he could step into Group Two company before too long, as he boasts entries in the six-furlong Gimcrack at York (August 25) and the seven-furlong Champagne Stakes on Town Moore (September 14).
Scott added: “He’s a tall horse who has plenty of scope to keep on improving, I would hope.
“He cruised into the race very easily and then probably saw plenty of daylight and was a little bit green, but I think he has a bright future for sure.
“I think he will probably run in a novice before we make plans, but I’m going to put him in the Champagne. I think seven furlongs is going to be much more his bag.
“He just wants sensible ground – he wouldn’t want extremes either way and definitely wouldn’t want it too soft. He is a horse who will be minded this year, with next year in mind.”
Should he produce at the next level, Scott is hopeful he could become a contender for the mile Classics next year.
“He has the pedigree and the quality as a physical (specimen), he has got to make a jump to be considered for that sort of territory, but like all trainers, when you have a horse who wins like that and and is very green, you are thinking about all sorts of things next year,” he said.
“But he will never go further than a mile. I would think he was a seven-furlong horse, but we’ll see.”
That success complete a double on the card for Scott, as Watch My Tracer, previously beaten just four and three-quarter lengths in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, made it two wins from three starts when taking division one of the six-furlong novice under Benoit De La Sayette.
The Dandy Man juvenile scored with some ease, coasting to a three-length victory.
Watch My Tracer will similarly take a class hike into Group Two company for the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood on August 3.
Scott added: “It was a lovely evening. It is nice when those things go to plan.
“Watch My Tracer is very workmanlike at home, so I wasn’t actually excepting him to win like that. I’ve really had Goodwood in my mind for him since he won at Yarmouth.
“I think six furlongs down the hill will really suit him. He is not short of speed at all, and it was just nice to get him a bit more experience before Goodwood.”
