Hugo Palmer is biding his time with Laureate Crown before committing him to the BetMGM Burradon Stakes at Newcastle on Friday.
The three-year-old was a half-length winner on his reappearance at Wolverhampton recently and having been gelded over the winter, his trainer believes his charge has returned this season a much stronger horse.
Palmer will weigh up whether to run him on All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Newcastle or hold him back for turf engagements such as the Silver Bowl at Haydock and the Britannia at Royal Ascot.
“He won well at Wolverhampton. We expected him to win and he did,” said the Malpas-based trainer.
“It was a small field and it’s hard to know what the value of the form is at this stage of the season, but he’s pleased me all spring.
“He’s just a bigger, stronger horse than last year. He was just a bit too weak after his debut so we hope he’s going to make up into a nice horse this year.
“It was a bit of a speculative entry (at Newcastle) – if everything turns up we probably won’t go, but if the race fell apart a bit we might have a crack.
“The plans for the season depend on whether we run on Friday I suppose. Friday’s race is worth £100,000 and £100,000 is worth ruining your handicap mark for!
“If we went that way we’d have to see how he got on but if we didn’t we could keep him for something like the Silver Bowl at Haydock (May 23).
“There’s the Britannia to think of as well, but the Britannia is a very difficult race to be competitive in. There’s 30 runners and the draw comes into it a lot whereas Haydock’s Silver Bowl is worth very nearly as much as the Britannia and it’s only a 14-runner field.”
Stablemate Penny Time is unlikely to take up his entry in the same race at Newcastle after suffering a foot injury.
He was disqualified on his racecourse debut at Kempton after jockey Joe Leavy weighed in light but then won comfortably at Southwell in the hands of James Doyle.
Palmer added: “I don’t think he’ll run. He’s moved his shoe and pinched his foot a bit. It’ll be a race against time to have him there so he may well go to the Greenham Stakes instead.
“He’s had two runs but only one of them counts because the jockey weighed in light first time. It was interesting the horse that he beat at Kempton (Conclave) when he was disqualified ran very well in the conditions race at Kempton on Saturday, so I think there’s a little bit of substance to his form.
“We’ll just have to see, he’s only had one official run so he can still run in two more novices and we’ll see how we go. I’m conscious of the fact he might not want the ground too fast when the turf comes.”
