QUEEN ELIZABETH II

STAKES (GROUP 1)

ONE or two favourites started at very short prices but the bookmakers seemed to think that Ribchester might be vulnerable in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and he eased out to 2/1.

They were proven correct as he gave everything but was caught and beaten a length by John Gosden’s filly Persuasive.

Ribchester’s pacemaker Toscanini took them along at a fierce pace but had done enough after six furlongs and William Buick sent the favourite to the front. Ribchester did nothing wrong but could never open up a decisive lead and Frankie Dettori, making steady ground from the rear, came with a well-timed challenge on Persuasive, who was blocked at one stage but led inside the furlong marker and was always in control afterwards. Churchill was half a length away in third, followed by the winner’s stable-companion Nathra.

A taking grey filly by Dark Angel, Persuasive came in for plenty of support from 14/1 down to 8/1. Previously second in the Sun Chariot Stakes and third in the Matron Stakes, she had been taking on the top fillies and the soft ground clearly held no terrors for her. She has gone out on a high, with the paddocks beckoning.

“It never worries me, taking on the colts late in the year with a filly,” Gosden remarked. “They go through hell in spring and early summer, coming in and out of season but then, in the autumn, everything settles down and they can concentrate on racing.

“I thought the jockey went up a blind alley at one point and had to come out of it again but she’d have been a very unlucky loser. She hasn’t always had the luck in Group 1s but things have gone right today.”

Richard Fahey was philosophical following Ribchester’s defeat.

“William thought he’d come there to win, and he’s won on the soft in the past, but he’s such a good-actioned horse,” the trainer said. “I’m proud of him but disappointed because he just got blunted in the dead ground. His best run was in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, where the ground was quick and he broke the track record.”