Isaac Shelby could head to Doncaster in a bid to add further Group-race success to his CV.
Winner of the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket last season, the Brian Meehan-trained colt took the Greenham on his three-year-old debut at Newbury and was unfortunate not to earn a Classic success when touched off by the narrowest of margins in the French 2000 Guineas.
Though he had no answer to Paddington in the St James’s Palace Stakes, he rebounded to get within a neck of the Frankie Dettori-ridden Kinross in the Group Two Lennox Stakes at Goodwood on Tuesday.
That drop back to seven furlongs seemed to suit Sean Levey’s mount and Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown, who is responsible for purchasing horses for owner Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s Wathnan Racing operation, said Isaac Shelby appears to be improving with racing.
“We were delighted with Isaac. He is as good a seven-furlong horse as there is, Kinross.
“So we were delighted to get to within a neck of him and I think Frankie (Dettori) was surprised as well.
“His form has got a very solid feel and I would say that is his best performance, really.
“He is a quite an immature horse, so we took the view that we would space his races and look after him with a view to next year.
“He has never let us down. He is lovely and is a great horse to own.”
Options for the Night Of Thunder colt are open, although the Betfred Park Stakes at Doncaster on September 16 has been pencilled in as a likely target.
Brown added: “At the moment we are not committing to anything – he has numerous options. Everything is open, but the Park Stakes is very much on the radar. That is about six weeks’ time.
“At one stage we were considering the Haydock Sprint Cup, but he was strongest at the line on Tuesday, so at this stage, we would be seeing him as a seven-furlong horse and next year, when he strengthens again, at some stage we will be going back up to a mile.”
