SANDRINGHAM HANDICAP (LISTED)

MORE than happy with Chilean import Furia Cruzada in the Duke of Cambridge, John Gosden was smiling again as the well-backed 11/4 shot Persuasive came home just over a length ahead of the unconsidered Diamond Fields in the closing Sandringham Handicap, with two more outsiders, Sharaakah and Radiantly, taking third and fourth.

This was a listed race for three-year-old fillies and a field of 21 lined up for it.

There was briefly some 8/1 about the winner during the morning but the bookmakers rapidly closed her down on course.

A grey Cheveley Park Stud filly by Dark Angel, she and Frankie Dettori were never going to let anyone down and she hit the front before the furlong marker, going clear with the race won despite edging to her right.

Persuasive, something of a late developer, had won tidily at Goodwood, but Gosden suddenly realised she needed another outing to qualify for the Sandringham. She must have been some bet when lobbing up at Chelmsford at 9/4 and won even more comfortably here.

“She’s done it very well on ground she wasn’t crazy about,” the trainer remarked. “It’s lovely to win a listed race at Royal Ascot for people who breed. Frankie said he hit the front too soon, but she’s done it well and I hope there’s more to come.

“We know that the French hold three-year-old races more than we do so we could go there, but when you win a listed race here you think about now!”