The Gredley family is committed to “enjoying the ride” with Ambiente Friendly as their promising colt gears up for a potential rematch against City Of Troy in the upcoming Juddmonte International at York.
When Aidan O’Brien’s colt, a son of Justify, won the Derby at Epsom by just under three lengths, it marked a significant Classic victory over a mile and a half. However, the two will meet again next month at York, this time competing over 10 furlongs.
Ambiente Friendly's connections opted not to face City Of Troy in the Coral-Eclipse, choosing instead to send the James Fanshawe-trained colt to the Curragh for the Irish Derby, where he secured a solid third-place finish behind Los Angeles.
As the son of Gleneagles recovers well from his Irish outing and after analysing the recent race at Sandown, Tim Gredley is eager to see how these exceptional three-year-olds perform when they meet at the Ebor meeting.
Gredley expressed, “Ambiente Friendly is in good order and the plan is to go for the Juddmonte. He came out of the Irish Derby really well, but he had two hard races in the space of a month and Mr Fanshawe was keen to try a mile and a quarter around a left-handed bend, so the Juddmonte was the obvious race. It’s probably more exciting for others than us, because we would probably rather he (City Of Troy) wasn’t there. We can’t control who is in the race, but I suppose the one thing we do have in our favour is we are not really ground-dependent, unless it comes up soft. We wouldn’t be too worried either way. We don’t know who is going to turn up on the day, but watching Sandown was interesting, and it will be interesting to see them have a match over a mile and a quarter.”
The Gredley family’s yellow and black silks have enjoyed success across various racing disciplines, and they recognise the challenges of securing high-calibre talent. The Ambiente Friendly team is determined to savour the exhilarating journey their new star is embarking on.
This journey might also include a four-year-old campaign and a possible return to 12 furlongs, as connections aim to make the most of the Lingfield Derby Trial winner’s undeniable potential in the competitive world of elite racing.