Flowerhead not certain to take Duchess of Cambridge chance

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The Amo Racing-owned two-year-old won a Chepstow maiden before stepping up to Group Two level for the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot, where she defied 100-1 odds to come home second.

Clover wants to give her the best chance of winning at Group level as he decides between the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket on Friday or the Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot later in the month.

Clover said: “She’s in great order. Whether she runs or not (in the Duchess of Cambridge) we’ll wait and see, there’s still the Princess Margaret to consider and there’s no guarantee we’ll run her.

“She’s in a good spot but we just want to try to put her in the weakest race possible to try to enhance her chances of winning. We’ll have a look at the declarations and if it’s the right spot we’ll go there and if not we’ll hold off and go back to Ascot.

“I think the step up to six will suit her and she’s in great nick.

“She deserves the chance to run but at the same time I’m conscious there might be a weaker spot coming up in the Princess Margaret.

“I don’t think it was a bad Queen Mary by any stretch of the imagination and Staya looked a nice horse winning that Listed race at Sandown. We’ll see some nice horses come out of the Queen Mary.

“The ground’s not an issue, she’s won on good to soft, second at Ascot on good to firm. Good ground is her preference but we’re not really scared of ground. She’s pretty versatile.”