There is little sign of Solow slowing down in Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

The Dubai Turf winner is well-rested and trainer Freddy Head has high hopes for more success at Ascot, writes Geoffrey Riddle.

Solow has not tasted defeat since May last year. Having beaten The Grey Gatsby in Dubai, he moved on to win the Prix d’Ispahan in May, the Queen Anne Stakes from subsequent dual Group 1 winner EsoteriShow more

There is a framed picture of Solow cantering down to the start of the Dubai Turf he won at Meydan Racecourse in March sat on the floor by a radiator in Freddy Head’s office at his base in Chantilly in France.

The walls are adorned with pictures and newspaper articles of glories past, and the coffee table and mantelpiece in his reception are burdened with trophies and silver shields, some of which have seen better days.

It is hard to keep on top of all the polishing when you have trained international campaigners such as Goldikova, Charm Spirit and Marchand d’Or.

There is simply no room in the office for Solow and rider Maxime Guyon perched up in his irons, but should the five-year-old gelding prevail in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Saturday night, Head may be forced to give his new stable star pride of place.

Solow has not tasted defeat since May last year. Having beaten The Grey Gatsby in Dubai, he moved on to win the Prix d’Ispahan in May, the Queen Anne Stakes from subsequent dual Group 1 winner Esoterique, and then the Sussex Stakes ahead of Qatar Racing’s Arod.

The win at Glorious Goodwood was a trifle laboured, and since then, Solow has done little real work. Head and regular rider Philippe Coppin blew away the cobwebs with a racecourse gallop over a mile with two work companions at Maisons-Laffitte a few weeks ago and since then Solow has been wound up for Britain’s most valuable race day.

“When you run in Dubai, we had a prep race for that. So you start your season very early and after that you never stop,” Head said. “Goodwood was the end of his season, and he needed a rest. So he is now fresh and I am very happy.”

Aidan O’Brien walked the course last night and will not make a final decision about the participation of Gleneagles, Europe’s top three-year-old miler, until after the first race. It would be Gleneagles’s first race since his Royal Ascot win in the St James’s Palace Stakes in June. But Solow would still be favourite, whether he turns up or not.

Gleneagles’s absence would ensure that Godolphin’s Territories, trained also in Chantilly by Andre Fabre, enters the equation, while Kodi Bear, ridden by Gerald Mosse, raises the possibility that there could be a French flavour to each of the podium places.

The five-year-old grey French gelding cuts an entirely different figure to Gleneagles, the three-year-old bay Irish colt.

Solow has a huge frame, with powerful shoulders and as such prefers rain-softened going in contrast to his younger rival. He has yet to race on his preferred going this season, and with the going at Ascot described as good to soft, there is a chance he may run his best race of the year.

Tonight’s £1.1 million (Dh6.2m) event over 1,600 metres has been Solow’s target since Goodwood, whereas Gleneagles has missed almost every European mile event since he ducked out of a duel with Solow at Goodwood due to unsuitable going.

If Solow is a model of consistency, it was not always thus. Solow was a slow burner. As a juvenile he never won, and the following campaign it took him three attempts to get off the mark, after which Head decided it was worth paying the ultimate price and gelded him.

Solow was then given a 10-month break to recover before his return to the racecourse yielded two victories at Longchamp.

Then came the Damascene moment. Solow finished sixth in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier, a long-distance race that Head thought would suit his charge, given that Solow’s dam, High Maintenance, won over a similar distance in 2008.

Head never ran Solow over a long distance again, and he has not lost since.

“He had problems and was very nervous,” Head explained. “I always thought he was going to be a good horse, but he let us down early in his career. That was partly because I ran him over further. But I think now a mile is his distance, which is strange for his breeding.

“When he was an entire, he would get very annoyed at the racecourse and would lose his potency. He was worried and has changed completely, and now he is very relaxed. He used to have problems with swollen joints, but that is all behind him now.”

And whatever the result today, Head will resist racing Solow again this season and will rest him up before he is prepared for another run at Meydan.

“Keeneland is a very tight, sharp track and I don’t think it will suit him,” he said of the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the month. “Maybe next year when it is at Santa Anita. As for Hong Kong (in December), the ground is pretty firm. So I don’t want to run him there.”

Perhaps by March Solow might be afforded a space on Head’s office wall.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE