Elzaam bidding to bounce back

Michael Jarvis' Elzaam is bidding to return to winning ways in the John Smith's Extra Smooth Stakes on Saturday.

Michael Jarvis' Elzaam is bidding to return to winning ways in the John Smith's Extra Smooth Stakes on Saturday. Hamdam Al Maktoum's colt looked to have a bright future when he followed an impressive debut at York with a narrow second in Royal Ascot's Coventry Stakes. However he was a beaten odds-on favourite in the July Stakes at Newmarket and hasn't been seen since. "We're looking forward to seeing him run again as he's been off the track a while now," said Jarvis. "We did think about running him in the Dewhurst last weekend and with hindsight, you start thinking we could have been second, but it's easy after the event. "He's sporting blinkers for the first time on Saturday and apparently a lot of the sire's (Redoute's Choice) stock in Australia do wear them. I've been told more do wear them than don't. "We've worked him in them and he's worked nicely so we thought it was worth a go. "He was pretty unhealthy after his run in the July Stakes but he's had plenty of time to recover."