Australian sprinter Gold Trail has arrived safely in England after a delayed flight from Singapore.Gold Trail was a gallant fourth in last Sunday's KrisFlyer Sprint at Kranji, prompting the decision to continue travelling him to England and the Royal Ascot meeting in June.The speedster will be joined at Newmarket next week by Nicconi and Alverta with all three out to uphold the winning reputation of Australians at the Royal meeting.Nicconi and Gold Trail are to contest the King's Stand (1000m) o
Australian sprinter Gold Trail has arrived safely in England after a delayed flight from Singapore.
Gold Trail was a gallant fourth in last Sunday's KrisFlyer Sprint at Kranji, prompting the decision to continue travelling him to England and the Royal Ascot meeting in June.
The speedster will be joined at Newmarket next week by Nicconi and Alverta with all three out to uphold the winning reputation of Australians at the Royal meeting.
Nicconi and Gold Trail are to contest the King's Stand (1000m) on June 15, the first day of the carnival, while Alverta runs in the Golden Jubilee four days later.
Choisir won both races in 2003 to set the stage for other Australians to follow with Takeover Target successful in the 2006 King's Stand.
Miss Andretti won the race a year later and Scenic Blast was successful last year.
Trainer Gary Portelli has to pinch himself to think Gold Trail can be mentioned among those horses.
"I can't believe we're talking about Gold Trail as an international sprinter," Portelli said.
"When we bought him I thought he would struggle to win in Australia.
"We thought he might win some nice city races but he continues to step up and surprise us."
His first foray into Group One company resulted in a third to Nicconi and Danleigh in last year's Galaxy (1100m) at Randwick.
During the late winter and early spring Gold Trail racked up three placings and a dashing win in the Group Two Shorts (1100m) after which Portelli and the five-year-old's owners targeted the Group One Railway Stakes (1200m) in Auckland on New Year's day.
He ran the field ragged and held on to claim his first, and so far only, win over 1200 metres.
The distance stretches Gold Trail out of his comfort zone which is another reason for Portelli to be proud of his Singapore effort behind Green Birdie.
"He did a lot of work up front and at the 200 (metres) I thought he might still be a chance," he said.
"But the 1200 is just beyond what he likes so the King's Stand should be to his liking."
The trip to England will be a first for Portelli.
"It's one place I've never been to and I'm looking forward to seeing how things are done there," he said.
"I will travel over about eleven days from the race and be there for his major gallops leading up to the race."
Trainer David Hayes was pleased with Nicconi after he tuned up for his departure with an exhibition gallop at Caulfield on Saturday while the Paul Messara-trained Alverta had an easy workout in a Muswellbrook barrier trial on Thursday.
Both horses will leave from Melbourne on Wednesday.
British bookmakers have installed Nicconi as 6-1 favourite for the King's Stand with former Australian Starspangledbanner at 12-1 and gold Trail at 16-1.