Criterion, the Australian raider who has slipped below the public radar since he was beaten at Royal Ascot, appeared to relish a return to the racecourse when galloping for a mile up the July Course under William Buick here on Wednesday morning. The chestnut is being aimed at York’s Juddmonte International in a fortnight’s time, when he will take on the unbeaten Derby winner, Golden Horn.
“He needed it but coming to the racecourse and having a good blowout, I think that will have done him the world of good,” said Buick, who expects to be able to ride Criterion because Godolphin, his main employers, are unlikely to be represented in the York contest. “He livened up a bit. I let him stretch on and I thought he felt pretty good. Obviously, Golden Horn is an exceptional horse and if the ground stays on the quick side, it’ll suit him. If it rains, it’ll suit us. We’ll see. It’s nice to get a ride like him.”
The original plan formed by Criterion’s trainer, David Hayes, was to take part at the Royal meeting and return home. Instead, his five-year-old has remained in Newmarket at the Clarehaven stables of John Gosden, also home to Golden Horn, but the fact has not been widely publicised and the horse is being ignored at odds of 33-1 for the International, having finished an anonymous fifth of nine in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
It may be a mistake to judge him on that effort alone, according to Ben Hayes, the trainer’s son, who works for Gosden and is now supervising Criterion’s preparation. “When he first came over in May, he had a bit of travel sickness for 10 days and he struggled a bit,” said Hayes Jr, who feels the horse is now in better condition than he was before Ascot.
“I actually thought he was pretty good. I thought he didn’t let himself down at all. He finished three and a half lengths off them. It was a hard track, too, and his form isn’t very good on the hard, so I think we were all very happy, we weren’t disappointed. I think he’ll improve.
“He’s been here since May and he’s had plenty of time to acclimatise. He’s put on a bit of weight, he’s a bit heavier than he was in Australia. He’s doing well, eating well.
“He’s in John Gosden’s string at the moment and he’s loving the company. The first couple of months, we had him out early, first thing, by himself, which is fine. But since he’s joined John Gosden’s string, we think he’s come on a lot. He’s much happier, he looks well.
“York’s a much fairer track, it’s a bit more like an Australian track, it’s more flat. So I think he’ll handle York better.
“If it’s good ground, we’ll be happy but if it’s wet, I think that’s a big curveball. He’s won all three of his Group Ones on wet ground. So, if it’s wet, we’ve a realistic chance of being in there because a lot of those horses aren’t proven on the wet.”
Criterion wore blinkers in the Ascot race and raced freely through the early stages in consequence. Those have now been swapped for a pair of cheekpieces, which he wore for the first time in this gallop, the hope being that he will be more relaxed through the first half of the race and produce a stronger finishing effort.
Even so, Hayes Jr is realistic about his chance against Golden Horn and said the ambition is to finish in the first three. Australia’s Cox Plate in late October is thought to be a more achievable target and the thinking is that Criterion may then have an edge on his compatriots, having stayed here through June and July.
“In Australia, all the horses are going through winter, they all have their winter coats,” Hayes Jr said. “As you can see, he still has a very nice, shiny coat. So he’ll be coming over a lot more forward than all the other horses getting ready for the Cox Plate.”
