DONCASTER

THE flat turf season finally wound down on Saturday but, even on the final day at Doncaster, John Gosden was still the man to follow as 9/1 shot Royal Line landed the 23-runner Marathonbet November Handicap.

The four-year-old had a length and a half to spare over Hughie Morrison’s outsider Not So Sleepy, with Reshoun and Birds Of Prey, trained by Wincanton maestro Paul Nicholls, third and fourth.

Gosden has enjoyed a wonderful campaign and underlined yet again last week that he is one of the finest trainers of the modern era. Royal Line, lightly raced, finished only seventh in this when favourite last year and ran off a 9lbs higher mark after winning easily at Epsom in the spring.

Absent since then, he still looked different class as Rab Havlin eased him through the field to take it up well before the two-furlong pole. Soon clear, he wandered a little but the race was in safe keeping.

“He’d won his last few gallops for Nicky Mackay so we came here hopeful,” Havlin said. “I was hoping to sit on him a bit longer but he took me there when they opened up for him at the three. He loves soft ground and looked a smart horse there. I hope we can keep him for next year.”