African Oil Takes Major Class Hike

African Oil takes a major step up when he runs in Saturday’s Charles Whittingham Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and a quarter on turf.

A French-bred son of Royal Applause, African Oil is coming off three starts in overnight races in the United States. His 11 previous starts were in England, where he won twice. He was second, beaten only a head, at Santa Anita in his most recent start on May 1 at a mile and a quarter on turf.

“He’s definitely moving forward,” said Simon Callaghan, who trains the 4-year-old gelding for Gary Barber and Anthony Ramsden. “He’s getting better with each run. He’s doing really well and this is his distance.

“There is no standout in this division. There are some nice horses, but none that would really scare you, so we’re going to take a shot.”

The field for the Whittingham: Soi Phet, Martin Garcia, 15-1; Quick Casablanca, Joe Talamo, 7-2; Bright Thought, Victor Espinoza, 3-1; African Oil, Kent Desormeaux, 12-1; Irish Surf, Elvis Trujillo, 20-1; Fire With Fire, Tyler Baze, 4-1; Segway, Gary Stevens, 7-2; Joelito, Corey Nakatani, 9-2; and Dr Action, Tiago Pereira, 8-1.