{"id":322891,"date":"2025-08-06T16:02:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T16:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/322891\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T16:02:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T16:02:14","slug":"merchant-route-could-encompass-york-or-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/322891\/","title":{"rendered":"Merchant route could encompass York or France"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Trained by William Haggas for the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing syndicate, all connected remain on cloud nine after the son of Teofilo followed up his Royal Ascot triumph in a wet and gloomy Gordon Stakes at Goodwood and he will attempt to carry on climbing the middle-distance ladder once recovering from his exertions on the Sussex Downs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re all so thrilled and everyone is absolutely delighted. It was the most extraordinary day\u2019s racing and we were just relieved he managed to get his nostril in front,\u201d said Highclere\u2019s Harry Herbert.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"525\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Merchant gamely lands the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WorldPool?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@WorldPool<\/a> Gordon Stakes \ud83c\udfc6 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/W44mCoC5J4\">pic.twitter.com\/W44mCoC5J4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Goodwood Racecourse (@Goodwood_Races) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Goodwood_Races\/status\/1950914134263906718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July 31, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s having a well-deserved quiet week now and then William will decide, as he sees how the horse has come out of the race, whether we go to the Voltigeur (August 20) or a race like the Prix Niel (September 7) in France.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The last four Gordon Stakes winners have gone on to contest the St Leger but connections of Merchant were coy on the idea of the Doncaster Classic in the immediate aftermath of his Goodwood triumph.<\/p>\n<p>The colt\u2019s name was a notable omission from the entries for the Town Moor showpiece earlier this week, with his team confirming their initial thought process of remaining at a maximum of a mile and a half for the time being.<\/p>\n<p>Herbert explained: \u201cWe have been talking together for some time and sometimes these things are not quite explicable, other than your own gut feeling and that of the trainer as well, and going a mile and six at this time of his career didn\u2019t appear to be in the best interest of the horse going forwards.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2.81146584.jpg\" alt=\"Jockey Tom Marquand celebrates after winning aboard Merchant\" data-title=\"Qatar Goodwood Festival \u2013 Ladies\u2019 Day \u2013 Goodwood Racecourse\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Wire\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Wire\/PA Images\" data-credit=\"Andrew Matthews\" data-usage-terms=\"Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.\"  \/>Jockey Tom Marquand celebrates after winning aboard Merchant (Andrew Matthews\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRightly or wrongly we have made that decision and we\u2019ll see how we get on when he steps up another grade next time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The St Leger may have been shelved, but Merchant\u2019s Gordon Stakes triumph ignited dreams of a greater prize in the autumn, with the Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe now firmly coming into sight.<\/p>\n<p>Currently without an entry for Europe\u2019s richest middle-distance prize, Merchant still has to convince all associated to stump up the \u20ac120,000 required to supplement, but a strong showing in his next outing could see the Highclere team embarking on a voyage to the French capital on October 5.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the entries closed for the Arc it would have been absolutely ridiculous as I think he was rated 82 at the time and it\u2019s not something you can enter willy-nilly,\u201d added Herbert.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2.80714384.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Marquand aboard Merchant shakes hands with Harry Herbert at Royal Ascot\" data-title=\"Royal Ascot 2025 \u2013 Day Three \u2013 Ascot Racecourse\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Wire\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Wire\/PA Images\" data-credit=\"John Walton\" data-usage-terms=\"Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.\"  \/>Tom Marquand aboard Merchant shakes hands with Harry Herbert at Royal Ascot (John Walton\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut having said that, we think the Arc must not be dismissed and, as the fast-improving three-year-old he is, you never know. If it\u2019s not right he won\u2019t run, but if it is and he\u2019s won a Voltigeur or a Prix Niel, then we would absolutely consider it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery race now is exciting and when I looked at him, even in that appalling weather at Goodwood, as he was going round the parade ring before the Gordon, you could see a significant change since Ascot and I think there is significant progression to come.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s in the most capable hands with William and his team and we will keep everything crossed. We\u2019re looking forward to the next step wherever he goes and wherever William thinks is the best option having had that very hard race at Goodwood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trained by William Haggas for the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing syndicate, all connected remain on cloud nine after the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-322891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114982665995665087","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}