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“He’s a very good horse and I wouldn’t be pitching him in at this level if I didn’t think he was good.”
Charlie Fellowes' Luther might well be expected to start the outsider of three in the Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury on Wednesday, but the Bedford Lodge Stables-based handler fully expects his horse to cut the grade in his bid to remain unbeaten.
"He's a funny horse, he's not the biggest but he's as tough as they come," said Fellowes.
"He wants to win, not many horses have that where their ears go flat back, but he's got it. He worked great the other day; it was as good of a piece of work as I've seen him do.
"He's a very good horse and I wouldn't be pitching him in at this level if I didn't think he was good."
The likeable son of Frankel stayed on strongly to make a winning debut over seven furlongs at Salisbury in June and will now return to the Wiltshire venue to take on Aidan O'Brien's The Parthenon and the Andrew Balding -trained New Century. The former will be partnered by Ryan Moore for the first time on the back of his Gowran Park maiden success, while the latter brings solid form to the table after finishing second in the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot last month.
"Obviously, it's a small field but it's a pretty good field," said Fellowes when questioned about the opposition. "Aidan (O'Brien) brings one over who looks decent and New Century is the proven one and he's done it. I don't think the Ascot race was run to suit him either so it's a proper test"
All three contenders step up to a mile for the first time, a proposition Fellowes expects his smart three-year-old to relish.
He said: "But I believe my fella is good enough. I think he's pretty good. He's run well at the course, and I think the step up to a mile will suit. He's by Frankel out of a mare that stayed ten furlongs, so I'm not concerned about the mile at all and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do."