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Ombudsman eventually came out on top in an exciting renewal of the Juddmonte International Stakes at York.
The 7-4 favourite was ridden by William Buick for John and Thady Gosden, with the fellow Godolphin-owned runner Birr Castle sent out to make the running as a rank outsider in the field of six.
The latter horse was afforded an enormous lead and as he rounded the turn for home it looked quite possible that the chasing pack would not catch him, but as he tired, Ombudsman was gaining ground.
He eventually swept through to grab the lead and while Delacroix also made late gains, Ombudsman emerged a three-and-a-half-length winner.
Full report to follow…
Pride Of Arras returns to form with Voltigeur victory
Pride Of Arras made a brilliant return to the scene of his finest hour to claim a Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes at York as dual Derby hero Lambourn misfired.
An impressive winner of the Dante on the Knavesmire earlier in the season, Ralph Beckett’s charge has proven no match for Aidan O’Brien’s Lambourn in both the Derby and Irish equivalent earlier in the season.
Pride Of Arras rediscovered his form at York
Sent off 12-1 in his first outing since being gelded, Rossa Ryan was in no rush as the 4-5 favourite Lambourn was immediately gunned to the front by Ryan Moore to keep close tabs on stablemate Thrice who was undertaking pacemaking duties.
However, unlike in his two Classic triumphs, Lambourn was unable to shrug off his rivals and with the pack swarming, it was Pride Of Arras who hit top gear up at the right time up the long home straight to return a length verdict over Paddy Twomey’s previously unbeaten Carmers.
Lambourn ended up a well-held fifth, with William Haggas’ Arabian Force another to stay on from the rear to take third ahead of Ballydoyle’s Stay True.
Gewan secures Acomb honours for Andrew Balding
Gewan was a game winner of the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes for Andrew Balding and PJ McDonald at York.
The grey was an 11-2 chance in the seven-furlong Group Three, and ran prominently from the off when racing in the slipstream of the leader May Angel in the early stages.
In the last two furlongs the colt began to progress, and in the final furlong he established a lead that he then fought hard to maintain as Aidan O’Brien’s Italy, the eventual runner-up, sought to gain ground before going down by a length and a half.
Charlie Appleby’s Distant Storm, the 11-10 favourite, pulled hard throughout the race and was eventually third.
Balding said: “He’s a horse we’ve always liked from the moment he came into the yard and he was very well bought by Billy Jackson-Stops for not big money really (€80,000).
P J McDonald steered Gewan to success at York
“He’s a son of Night Of Thunder who has done everything right since the first day and we liked the way he won at Newbury and we were always keen to come here.
“I think PJ was quite taken by him and his attitude and maybe felt he had a little more left.
“I think he’ll stay a mile no problem next year but we’ll probably stick at seven this year.”
“There’s a lot of two-year-old races to be run between now and then, anything is possible at the moment. I don’t know if we’ve any better than him but other people probably have, so we’ll see how things play out.”
Italy could also be handed a Group One target in the future, with O’Brien satisfied with his performance.
He said: “He ran very well and he’s a lovely, big horse. Ryan (Moore) said he jumped a little bit slow and the horse that jumped in front of him took him an inch or two back further than he wanted to be.
“Ryan said he had to expose him very early, but he ran a very good race, he’s a lovely horse in the making and he will progress.
“There’s many options for him. We had the choice of running here or in the Futurity Stakes (at the Curragh) and obviously we picked to come here. From the Futurity you can go to the National Stakes, but it depends what happens with the others.”
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