Rossini will be Aidan O'Brien's first runner in Britain this season when he contests tomorrow's Craven Stakes at Newmarket.
With Giant's Causeway, Monashee Mountain and Bernstein waiting in the wings for a possible tilt at the 2,000 Guineas, Rossini's role might be seen as something of a pathfinder, but O'Brien is expecting a good run from the Miswaki colt.
'The plan is to run in the Craven and at the moment the ground looks just about perfect at Newmarket,' O'Brien said yesterday.
Rossini won the Group Two Prix Robert Papin last season and chased home Distant Music in the Champagne Stakes on his last appearance.
The Ballydoyle trainer also reported yesterday that the weekend flop Shakespeare was found to have torn muscles in his back and faces a term on the sidelines.
'We don't know how long he will be off for,' said O'Brien, who couldn't confirm recent reports of a proposed $2 million sale of the Dewhurst Stakes runner-up Brahms to the US.
'I'm not sure what the current situation with Brahms is, but nothing has been finalised,' he said.
