THE City of York Stakes was a slightly less competitive renewal than of late, and it produced a predictable result with 11/8 favourite Space Blues (Charlie Appleby/William Buick) proving one and a half lengths too strong for the gallant filly Highfield Princess (John Quinn/David Allan). She in turn was a neck in front of the winner’s stablemate Glorious Journey (James Doyle) at the line.

Class

Held up early, the winner travelled notably strongly, and although the placed horses gave their all in the finish, the 2020 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner simply had too much class, and given he’s already a winner in the highest class, this win must put him in the picture for the Group 1 Prix de La Foret on ‘Arc’ weekend.

Space Blues has a more prosaic entry in the Park Stakes at Doncaster, and the runner-up is only engaged in the British Champions Sprint, which would be a departure for her, having raced exclusively at seven furlongs since trying a mile on her second career start.

Whether or not that experiment succeeds, she has been a hugely likeable performer this season, and has progressed enormously since being beaten in a Class 6 handicap at Doncaster just over a year ago.

Disappointment of the race was Primo Bacio, who had beaten some smart fillies with an impressive finishing kick over a mile here in May, but she didn’t pick up at all when asked here, and gave the impression that tough races in the Falmouth and the Prix Jacques Le Marois had left her flat here.

SINCE winning the Royal Hunt Cup by a wide margin on his first ever public outing on turf, Real World (Saeed Bin Suroor/Marco Ghiani) has shown himself to be one of the outstanding finds of the summer, and superstars you didn’t realise existed a few months ago are often the most exciting stars of all.

The Dark Angel colt maintained his unbeaten record on the surface, and gained a first group-race triumph when outclassing a good field in this Group 3 contest, not fully extended to beat Lord Glitters (David O’Meara/Danny Tudhope) by a length and a half. Duke Of Hazzard stayed on well from the rear to grab third.

Real World has entries in both the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October, and certainly merits his place in either event, but the race which might appeal most of all to his connections is the one-mile, one-furlong Jebel Hatta at Meydan in March. We know that the colt is well suited by the unusual trip after this success, while all his turf form has come on quick ground, something he’s not sure to get at Ascot. Wherever Saeed Bin Suroor goes with the four-year-old, it should be acknowledged that he has the tools to make a breakthrough at the top level sooner rather than later. He was well positioned here, but the turn of speed he conjured up to land the Steventon Stakes at Newbury deserves to be seen on a bigger stage, and Godolphin like to show off their talents on World Cup night.