Harry Charlton's runner was a fast-finishing second in the Hampton Court Stakes at the royal meeting.
Harry Charlton has earmarked a whole host of potential targets for his unlucky Hampton Court Stakes runner-up King's Gambit, with connections seemingly leaning towards the Sky Bet York Stakes.
The son of Saxon Warrior was sent off a 2/1 chance to take the step up to group company in his stride following his London Gold Cup handicap route at Newbury, but backers of the market leader seemed to know their fate early on with William Buick forced to drop in at the tail of the field.
Brian Meehan's Jayarebe stole a march on his rivals with a handful of furlongs to run and ultimately, King's Gambit had too much ground to make up, with the winning margin eventually a diminishing three-quarters of a length at the line.
"Take nothing away from Brian's horse, who is a lovely horse. He won the race, and we can't forget that." Charlton told Sky Sports Racing.
"From the moment the gates opened William (Buick) was never able to get where he wanted to, we were a long way back and even in the straight we got a bump or two. He made up an exceptional amount of ground and was closing the winner down, but it was just too much of an effort for him.
"He's run with huge credit and we're very proud of him, but had things panned out a little differently in the first two furlongs, I'm sure a victory was possible for him. In that sense it's frustrating, but we need to be realistic and say that's racing – and he's a horse to look forward to."
A step up in trip was by no means ruled out by Charlton his unlucky Ascot loser, although a tilt at the Sky Bet York Stakes staged on the 27th of July appears the most likely option.
"He's in the Group 2 at Newmarket against older horses. It's possible, that's obviously up in trip, and he might stay at 10 furlongs, so maybe something like the Sky Bet at York is a possibility," explained Charlton.
"There are a few other races – there are some three-year-old only 10-furlong races at Deauville in August – but I suspect we might be leaning towards York.
"We'll discuss it with Mohammed Jaber (owner) once we've got through this week and just see how he's come out of the race. I think when you go and run a big effort like that, it takes more out of you than you think because you've run a lot further than some other horses and made up a lot of ground."
However, Charlton did enjoy a visit to the Royal Ascot winners' enclosure last week courtesy of Hand Of God's comprehensive success in Saturday's Golden Gates Stakes.
Charlton said: "Hand Of God was well handicapped on the basis that we hadn't run him since Sandown. We went into the week thinking and hoping that we had a horse with quite a few pounds in hand and that's how it transpired."
He added: "He's got a huge stride for the size of horse he is, and he's always had a wonderful attitude. He's a horse we've always liked and when you've got horses like King's Gambit and Kikkuli around, it makes it a lot easier to put a gauge on where the horses are in terms of ability.
"He was showing plenty of ability before, so went into the week thinking he was our best chance of a win and that's how it proved.
"I guess he's heading for a 10lb rise, we'll see what the handicapper does tomorrow (Tuesday) and make plans from there. He's in the John Smith's Cup and the weights are already out. He's on 7st 11lb and he'll get a 5lb penalty, but I'd be surprised if that's enough to get in.
"He is in the valuable 10-furlong handicap at Newmarket's July meeting for three-year-olds, that's also an option, but Mohammed Jaber might say he wants to step up in class and he would be perfectly entitled to do so, so we'll have a few discussions and see where we get to.
"He's exciting because we haven't got the max of him yet."
