Rock Montreal bidding to add name to Solario Stakes roll of honour

Roger Varian’s Rock Montreal is a hot favourite to put his name alongside the equine greats to have won the BetMGM Solario Stakes at Sandown.

The Group Three contest has proved a breeding ground of champions over the years, with subsequent QEII and Breeders’ Cup Classic victor Raven’s Pass (2007), the brilliant miler Kingman (2013), Derby hero Masar (2017) and multiple Group One winners Too Darn Hot (2018) and Field Of Gold (2024) all on the roll of honour.

Like Masar, Rock Montreal carries the royal blue of Godolphin and has his sights raised following a dominant debut success little over a fortnight ago.

Varian said: “He’s a lovely horse who won well at Yarmouth and we like him. It will be a bigger test for him at Sandown of course, but we’re looking forward to seeing him out again.

“He’s looked good at home and you could crab the form of the Yarmouth race if you wanted to, but visually he was really impressive.

“He was learning on the job and we’ve been really happy with how he has come out of that race. We’ll learn a bit more about him at Sandown and just as important, he’ll learn a bit more about the game as well.”

Joint-trainer William Muir said Breacher could be the best horse he has ever trained following his successful debut at Salisbury at the end of June – and having since missed a planned return to the Wiltshire track for the Stonehenge Stakes a fortnight ago, he has been rerouted to Sandown.

“He had a bad blood reading before he was due to go to the Stonehenge. He was as fit as a flea to go there, but his white blood cells were very high and we made the decision not to run him,” said Muir, who trains Breacher in partnership with Chris Grassick.

“It didn’t stop his normal routine – he did two canters every day. We took his bloods on Monday and they were perfect, he worked really well and his weight is on par for where it wants to be.

“He’s just a big, lovely horse. If you looked at him in the string he’s a big, strong, strapping individual and the time since his first run and not being rushed has probably done him good, because he’s got a big future.

“I couldn’t be happier with where we are.”

Simon and Ed Crisford’s Sonic Angel has impressed in winning his first two starts on the all-weather and now faces a significant rise in class on his turf debut.

Ed Crisford said: “He’s done nothing wrong so far in his two novices, it’s another step up and I guess we’ll figure out where he stands at the table.

“There’s a bit of rain around, which will suit him, and the track should suit him as well. He came out of his last race at Kempton in great order and we just felt if conditions were right we should bounce him back and see how he fares.

“There’s a lot of novice/maiden horses in there that are a bit like him. He’s always been a nice sort of horse and he’s definitely been improving with each run.

“Obviously he needs to improve again and we’ll find out on Saturday how we get on.”

Ed Walker’s Pat Eddery Stakes winner Alfred Wallace makes a quick return to action after finishing fourth in the Acomb at York 10 days ago, as does Mia Fantasia, who won a valuable nursery at the Ebor Festival for Hugo Palmer.

“He did look a cut above handicap level when getting his toe into the ground for the first time (at York), there has been a bit of rain at Sandown and there will hopefully be a bit more,” said Palmer.

“It is quite a quick turnaround but we thought it was worth a go. He needs to step forward another stone to be competitive I would have thought, but he’s a young horse who was very unlucky at Goodwood when we expected him to win and he won like we expected him to at York.

“It is a quick turnaround but we have been happy with him in the 10 days in between.”