Tattersalls Gold Cup (Group 1)

FIVE previous Group 1 winners made for a vintage renewal of the Tattersalls Gold Cup and the first Group 1 of the day didn’t disappoint, thanks to a brilliantly-game Los Angeles and shrewd Ryan Moore ride.

Aidan O’Brien’s second-string, St Leger victor Continuous was slowly away, but made rapid headway to lead after two furlongs, while Ryan Moore settled the eventual winner and 9/4 favourite in third.

Quickening turning for home, Los Angeles was pushed along to lead passing the two-furlong pole, while Anmaat loomed ominously on the outer.

Heartbreakingly for Owen Burrows’ dual Group 1 winner, Los Angeles found another gear once headed and battled back to lead by half a length on the line. Last year’s winner White Birch was given a hold-up ride by Colin Keane but failed to find the required gaps alongside the progressive mare Kalpana.

They finished fourth and third respectively, but whether they would have finished close with clearer runs is up to debate, given how Los Angeles reacted to Anmaat’s challenge.

“Ryan gave him a great ride,” Aidan O’Brien said after a record-extending 11th win in the race. “He’s a hardy, tough horse and he’s at his best when the pace is on. All those riders ride tight and don’t give each other an inch, but it was a very clean, strong-run race. The pace was solid, there was nowhere to hide out there.

Moore masterclass

“I’d say Ryan waiting for someone to come to him because he felt he had plenty when they did come and that’s exactly what happened. You couldn’t be happier.”

On the calibre of the race, the trainer commented: “I’d say any race is going to find it hard to stand up to this. When all the ratings of the horses are added up, it’s going to be an incredibly high rating band. They’re all the top mile-and-a-quarter, mile-and-a-half horses.

Now two from two this term, Los Angeles remains on course for Royal Ascot, O’Brien confirmed. “The plan was to come here and then to the Prince Of Wales’s. Then have a look at the King George, then give him a rest and maybe look at an Arc trial and then the Arc. That’s been the plan all year but we’ll take it one day at a time.”

The Coolmore and Westerberg-owned entire is 3/1 favourite for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and shortened to 12/1 for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, in which he finished third last year.

“He ran in the Arc last year but it didn’t suit him at all,” O’Brien said. “He was left in front by himself, so it was a bit of a mess. When the pace is on in front, he’ll follow you anywhere and he’ll fight; no horse likes a fight better than him.”