Blue Bajan can show true colours – O’Meara

The veteran has enjoyed a new lease of life since joining the up-and-coming Nawton handler, following up a second in the Yorkshire Cup with an emphatic defeat of Montaff in the Henry II Stakes.

He has a Group Two penalty to contend with for that superb Sandown display, and he put in a lacklustre performance in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot most recently, but O’Meara feels there were excuses in Berkshire.

“If he can come back to the same form at Sandown he should be in contention,” said the handler.

“Even if he runs like he did when he was second in the Yorkshire Cup, he should run well, as Manighar was behind him that day and Electrolyser was a long way behind.

“It looks a little bit odd that our horse is the one having to give a penalty to everything else, but that’s the way it is.

“I think he just ran a bit flat at Royal Ascot. It was off the back of a few quick runs after a year off and maybe the soft ground didn’t help.

“He seems fine at home. He’s a hold-up horse so we’ll need a bit of luck.”

Luca Cumani is confident Gold Cup fourth Manighar can make his presence felt, granted a smooth passage.

“The drop back in trip will help as two miles is absolutely spot-on for him,” said the Italian.

“He’s in good form and there are a lot of runners in the race, so we’re going to need a bit of luck in running.

“Everything should be in his favour and, at the moment, the plan is to go back to the Melbourne Cup.”

Jessica Harrington is also eyeing international prizes for Laughing Lashes, but the Irish handler could be tempted into a visit to the Knavesmire for the Darley Yorkshire Oaks.