Blue Point swerves Haydock

Trainer Charlie Appleby says Blue Point will head to the Curragh later this month rather than contest Saturday’s Sprint Cup at Haydock.

Blue Point came in third in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York last month, prompting the Newmarket-handler to change his plans.

Appleby feels the race at Haydock will come too soon for his charge, so he has instead decided to target the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes on September 16 at Irish Champions Weekend.

“Blue Point won’t run on Saturday, we will aim him for the Flying Five at the Curragh,” he told the Racing Post. “We wanted to give him a bit more time from York to recover. He’s come out of the race well, we’ll look forward to running him again.”