Regional return gives Bethell plenty to look forward to

Ed Bethell will head straight to Royal Ascot with Regional following his excellent return to action in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan on Saturday.

A Group One winner in the Sprint Cup at Haydock two seasons ago, the seven-year-old failed to add to his tally last term, but did fill the runner-up spot in the Greenland Stakes at the Curragh and found only Australian raider Asfoora too strong in the King Charles III Stakes at the Royal meeting in June.

Regional headed to the Middle East for his first outing since finishing fourth at Newbury in July and having seen his stable star run a fine race to beaten just three-quarters of a length into third place by George Boughey’s Believing, Bethell is excited to see what the rest of the year has in store.

“He ran great and came out of it well, which is the main thing, so roll on the big turf races in England,” said the North Yorkshire-based trainer.

“You can never be confident going into Group Ones, but he’d been training nicely, especially when he got out to Dubai, so we were hopeful rather than confident.

“He’ll go straight to Royal Ascot for either the six-furlong or the five-furlong Group One. He seems quite versatile and we’ll just see which race looks most winnable nearer the time.

“There’s nothing to suggest he’s not as good as ever, that was what we took great heed in the other day, that he’s still able to compete at Group One level, which is amazing.”