The Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot remains the most likely next destination for Criterion after the Australian galloper's arrival in England, reports Racing.com.
Trainer David Hayes said the horse has arrived safely at John Gosden’s stable at Newmarket, where he will be monitored by Hayes' son Ben, who works for the leading English trainer.
“He’s just arrived there after 24 hours travelling and from all reports he’s settling in fine,” said Hayes.
“Ben will keep an eye on the horse while I’m over here. I’ll probably head over to England around 10 days before he races.”
Hayes said Criterion would be given an easy week to settle in and all things going well would take his place in the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2000m) on Wednesday June 17.
“The priority at the moment is to train him for the Prince Of Wales’s (2000m) but we’ll see how quickly he settles in,” he said.
“If he thrives and settles in quickly the Prince Of Wales’s is the obvious target but if he takes a week or two to settle in the Queen Anne (1600m) would be the better option because I wouldn’t have done much work with him as I won’t work him hard until he settles in.”
A dominant winner of the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) in Sydney, Criterion finished third in last Sunday’s Group 1 QEII Cup (2000m) in Hong Kong.