Clive Cox has designs on dominating the sprinting scene once again as Coppull is set to tread the “tried-and-tested” route to the Commonwealth Cup.
The Beechdown handler is a proven master with the speedsters and has previously won the Royal Ascot Group One for three-year-olds with Golden Horde in 2020.
Now he is targeting further success with his Richmond Stakes hero, who also placed at the Royal meeting and in Newmarket’s Middle Park as a juvenile, and is set to return at Ascot on their trials day card on May 1 before heading to Haydock later that month.
“He backed his win in the Richmond up with an excellent run in the Middle Park at the end of his season, but equally he will appreciate the summer ground,” said Cox.
“He has done exceptionally well over the winter and looks stronger and better than last year and he’s stretched out extremely well when he’s worked on the grass which has been pleasing to see.
“He will be sprinting and will be looking towards the Pavilion as a starting point, then following the tried-and-tested route for the sprinters with the Commonwealth Cup being a definite target at this stage.
“The Pavilion and the Sandy Lane are both very important on the programme for the three-year-olds because it’s difficult against the older horses until you move into the second half of the year. It’s a well-trodden path which hopefully he is on target for.”
While Coppull may be still in the early days of his career, stablemate Diligent Harry has worn the t-shirt many times as the sprinting stalwart still flies the flag for his handler with great effect.
A pair of Listed Lingfield wins in the early part of 2026 show the engine still purrs as loud as ever within the eight-year-old and he could make his return to turf at Newmarket in the Group Three Blandford Bloodstock Abernant Stakes on April 16.
“I’ve been so proud of him and he broke the track record at Lingfield over five furlongs as well,” said Cox.
“He’s in excellent form and hopefully we have some nice ground on the turf to look forward. He’s still displaying a high level of form and his rating would reflect that. He’s on 110 now and hopefully he can keep going in the same way he has started off the year.
“He’s a good ground horse and we’ll see what options there are, but with his Listed penalty we could be looking towards the Abernant at Newmarket during the Craven meeting.”
