Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes (Group 1)

A SUPERB weekend for British raiders at the Irish Champions Festival got even better when Zavateri showed a tremendous attitude to maintain his unbeaten record after a prolonged tussle with Gstaad in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.

Odds of 15/2 suggested that the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained July and Vintage Stakes winner hadn’t been fully respected prior to this, but he made everyone sit up and take note with a gritty display here.

Mick and Janice Mariscotti’s two-year-old made gradual headway from off the pace before himself and 10/11 favourite Gstaad pulled two and a half lengths clear of the third-placed Italy. The stewards called an enquiry after the pair came close in the final stages, but there was never a serious threat of the result being overturned and Charlie Bishop had a willing partner in the head success.

How well bought Zavateri was at 35,000gns as a yearling, now by far the best horse to come from his sire, Without Parole. “He’s such a dude of a horse and I don’t train him, he trains me!” said the winning trainer.

“This race just sat right because it was a long way from Goodwood to the Dewhurst. We wanted to find a spot in between and I didn’t want to go to the Champagne and carry another penalty.

“He’s already won a Group 2 with a penalty and this is a Group 1, but we are coming into Aidan’s [O’Brien] back yard, although it’s the right spot time-wise for him.

Beautiful ride

“He’s come from a long way back on sticky ground, and they have not been finishing from a long way back today. That was pretty impressive, I’d say, and Charlie has given him a beautiful ride. He’s never been on this ground before; he’s not travelled away overnight before but he’s taken it all in his stride.”

The winner was trimmed to 12/1 (from 16/1) for next year’s 2000 Guineas, while Gstaad was also cut to the same price for the Newmarket classic (from 14/1). The runner-up lost nothing in defeat and remains a top prospect, having proven his stamina for seven furlongs here, despite a messy start when shipping a bump.

Aidan O’Brien has won the National Stakes a whopping 12 times, but it has proved tough work for some of his hotpots in recent years. Having won 11 renewals out of 21 from 1996 to 2016, he’s now captured just one of the last nine runnings.

Zavateri was the third Irish Champions Festival winner for this trainer-jockey combination, following success with Ice Age in the 2017 Bold Lad Handicap and Streets Of Gold in the 2022 Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale Stakes.

Bishop added: “I had to come out a bit sooner than I would have liked to, but when Christophe [Soumillon] made his move on Gstaad, I made my move. It was the same as Goodwood, he never knows when he’s beat.

“It’s great to have a winner at Royal Ascot, but these Group 1 winners are what make the difference, so it’s important to deliver when you get the opportunities.”