Qatar Prix de Royallieu (Group 1)
THADY Gosden was a chip off the old block as he mirrored father John’s grace in defeat following Stradivarius’s reverse.
He didn’t have long to wait to get back on to the top step of the podium as Loving Dream prevailed in a feisty tussle with another Newmarket trainee, Roger Varian’s Believe In Love, to lift the Group 1 Qatar Prix de Royallieu just 35 minutes later.
Frankie Dettori was determined to take advantage of his inside draw and he had to be animated in the early stages of this mile-and-six contest to cajole Loving Dream up the rail and into the lead. The daughter of Gleneagles then settled nicely in front, but Believe In Love was able to get up her inside on the home turn and held a narrow advantage approaching the two-furlong marker.
Believe In Love was still in front until the final 50 yards when Dettori’s persistence and his mount’s courage combined to snatch a short-neck verdict.
“Frankie always tells us what a good jockey he is from the front, but he really had to prove it today,” Gosden junior quipped. “It’s only two weeks until Champions Day at Ascot but it’s possible we might see her again there.”
THE pick of three Group 2s on the card was a Qatar Prix Daniel Wildenstein which offered the prospect of witnessing an unprecedented third straight triumph for The Revenant.
Francis Graffard’s six-year-old tried his best but, with jockey Olivier Peslier aware that his main autumn goal is the defence of his Queen Elizabeth II Stakes crown in a fortnight, he got going just a little too late and was unable to peg back Real World.
The crowd was, nevertheless, treated to two little pieces of history as the result meant that Frankie Dettori had become the first jockey to win this mile contest on six different occasions and Saeed bin Suroor, who has been responsible for all but one of those Dettori triumphs, was the first trainer to win this trophy on five occasions.
It was just like old times in the paddock afterwards, the two record-breakers enjoying a gleeful hug, and Bin Suroor intends to point Real World towards another of his pet races, the Dubai World Cup, which he has won a mere nine times.
Godolphin blue had been the colour earlier in the afternoon too as the Charlie Appleby stablemates, Manobo and Kemari, fought out the finish to the mile-and-seven-furlong Qatar Prix Chaudenay, leaving Aidan O’Brien’s St Leger fourth, Interpretation, trailing in fourth.
Manobo came out on top by three-quarters of a length to maintain his unbeaten record and next season may be up to taking on the likes of Trueshan in the best all-aged stamina tests.
“Manobo is still learning and he surprised us a bit today as, despite moving up in trip, he was still able to display his fine turn of foot,” Appleby said. “He will be an even better four-year-old.”
Haggas takes the Honour
Back in England, trainer William Haggas was carrying all before him with seven winners in a day and his solitary Longchamp representative, Dubai Honour, took that tally to eight with a dominant performance in the Qatar Prix Dollar.
This was his second French Group 2 victory inside seven weeks, but the form of his Prix Guillaume d’Ornano success at Deauville in August had taken a few knocks, so it was something of a surprise that he was able to make his nine rivals look rather ordinary, coming with a perfectly timed run down the outside to score by a length and a half.
James Doyle, who was completing a treble following successes aboard Trueshan and Manobo, said: “Dubai Honour has improved a lot – he was running in handicap company a couple of starts ago but I was able to switch him to the outer and use his turn of foot and he’s done it really nicely.”
Long-distance travel is clearly not an issue for this Pride Of Dubai gelding and his next objective may be the Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin in December.