Arc Ole Ole is Royal Ascot bound for Dylan Cunha after a smart handicap win at York’s Dante meeting.
The three-year-old son of Study Of Man is well bred on the dam side as the half sibling to a Listed winner, and with one win to his name from a light juvenile campaign he was successful again on debut this season.
That Doncaster win led to a mile-and-a-half handicap at York, where the colt ran with real promise to come home nearly three lengths to the good on his first attempt at the trip.
The same race – albeit with different conditions – was won by William Haggas’ Merchant en route to winning the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot, a path Arc Ole Ole is likely to follow ahead of a return to the Knavesmire.
“He was very good, we expected it but he did it so professionally and he’s come out of it fantastic,” said Cunha.
“He’ll probably go to Royal Ascot for the King George and then back to York for the Melrose, those would be his next two targets.
“Merchant won at York off 82 and we were given 85 on Tuesday, so hopefully we will have a good chance.
“It’s very exciting, a bit of rain would help though so hopefully we get that.
“If he improves enough we could look at the St Leger, but he would need to win his next two races to be considered for something like that.
“That’s the ambitious target for him if everything went perfectly.”