A LUCRATIVE trip Down Under for the Melbourne Cup is on the agenda for Yeats after the tough stayer landed a second consecutive Gold Cup victory. The odds-on chance emulated Ascot favourites like Royal Rebel, Drum Taps, Ardross and Le Moss by claiming the stayers’ championship twice. Yeats looked a certain winner two furlongs from home and when Geordieland stormed out of the pack to challenge, the market leader found another gear to score by 1½ lengths, with Le Miracle a further 3½ lengths back in third. Trainer Aidan O’Brien said: “All races are open to him now and we have to discuss where he goes, but it’s very possible he might miss Goodwood and go to the Irish Leger and then the Melbourne Cup. “But this race is the ultimate staying race and a third crack at it would be on the agenda. It would be great to be back again.” Meanwhile, speedy colt Winker Watson is a 10-1 chance with VC Bet for next year’s 2000 Guineas after giving Peter Chapple-Hyam a second Norfolk Stakes in as many years on day three of the royal meeting. The Derby-winning trainer took the five-furlong race 12 months ago with Dutch Art, and Winker Watson, winner of his only previous start, was sent off the 2-1 favourite to emulate his stablemate. After taking it up around a furlong out, the result never really looked in doubt as Jimmy Fortune’s mount powered away from the pack to win by 1¼ lengths from Art Advisor. Silkwood, a 4-1 chance, more than made up for her absence from the Oaks by thrashing a classy field in the Ribblesdale Stakes. Trainer Michael Jarvis has taken a low-key approach with a filly he clearly thinks a lot of, and following her five-length victory over Oaks third All My Loving, she could now head to the Irish equivalent. Jarvis said: “She has always shown immense talent. We were keen to run her in the Oaks, but she is such a fluent mover that when it came up soft we discussed it with owner Sheikh Mohammed and got an alternative here.” “It is up to the boss now but I would have thought she would be supplemented for the Irish Oaks on July 15.” | 
