Naas return in the pipeline for Bucanero Fuertre

Bucanero Fuerte is poised to make his eagerly-awaited return on Royal Ascot Trials day at Naas later this month.

The son of Wootton Bassett created history during a profitable two-year-old season, becoming both Amo Racing and trainer Adrian Murray’s first Group One winner when striking in the Phoenix Stakes.

Defeat in his final start as a juvenile over seven furlongs in the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes played a key part in shelving plans to aim at this year’s Classics to focus on a sprinting-based campaign.

He was due to reappear at Ascot last week before a rethink from connections to stay closer to home, with the colt now set to kick his season off at Naas’ equivalent fixture where the Group Three Goffs Lacken Stakes will be his likely assignment.

That six-furlong event will put Bucanero Fuerte in line to take up his Commonwealth Cup engagement later in the summer as Amo Racing look to add to the double they enjoyed at the summer showpiece in 2023.

Murray said: “He might go to Naas (May 19). We were going to go to Ascot, but we decided to stay put and wait for something closer to home.

“He’s ready to rock and he’s bouncing at home. We’re going to go sprinting with him and he shows us an awful lot of speed at home.

“A mile would probably be pushing it for him and his brother (Wooded) won a Group One over five furlongs so it’s in the family and he has shown us he is not a slow horse as well.

“I think we’ll be sticking with the sprinting for a while.”