Nothing Safe about John Quinn’s next Voyage of discovery

Safe Voyage won at Haydock at Saturday under Jason Hart.

Confidently ridden by former champion apprentice Jason Hart, the victory took the horse’s record at the Merseyside venue to four from four and Glorious Goodwood is next on the horizon.

“He’s a nice horse, this. We thought he was the real deal as a two-year-old, but he fractured his pelvis when he made his debut at Pontefract,” said Quinn. “That was a shame, but anyway he’s making up for lost time and he’s improved again. He’s better with a cut in the ground, but he doesn’t need it this soft.

“The great thing is he goes through it when so many don’t. The Lennox Stakes at Goodwood and the Foret in France are the two races that spring to mind.”

The victory came on the day that Quinn’s Liberty Beach ran out a ready winner of Beverley’s Hilary Needler Trophy, a trial for the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot next week, before Lord Riddiford rounded off a day to remember by winning a £40,000 handicap at Chelmsford.

Meanwhile, Charlie Appleby favours the Arlington Million as a possible next target for Old Persian instead of trying to secure back-to-back victories at Royal Ascot.

He may aim Old Persian at the Grade One prize in Illinois on August 10 rather than bidding to follow up last year’s King Edward VII Stakes victory in either the Prince Of Wales’s or Hardwicke Stakes. After claiming his first top-level success in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in March, the Dubawi colt could finish only seventh of nine in the Coronation Cup at Epsom.

Appleby said: “I know he has won around Ascot – and because he was a winner last year, you can’t completely rule it out, but I think we will end up missing Ascot.

“That last run at Epsom, and it was not the sort of run you want to go into a championship meeting like Ascot.”

Ventura Rebel will sport different silks when attempting to maintain his unbeaten record at Royal Ascot after being sold by Middleham Park Racing.

The Richard Fahey-trained two-year-old will run in the colours of Abdullah Menahiafter being purchased for an undisclosed figure.