It is the simplest tactic in the game: jump fast, run faster, stay strong to the line. And when it is deployed by a long-striding powerhouse like Ghaiyyath, it is also the most difficult to defeat. From start to finish, Charlie Appleby’s five-year-old maintained a relentless gallop in the Juddmonte International Stakes here on Wednesday, leaving high-class opponents paddling helplessly in his wake and underlining what was already a strong claim to be the best racehorse anywhere this season.
Magical, Kameko and Lord North, all Group One winners already this year, were fresh opponents for Ghaiyyath this season but made no more of an impression on the front-running favourite than any of the others. Simply getting to within two lengths of Ghaiyyath in the straight was enough to drain the finish from all three.
“He just has a much higher cruising speed than a horse that normally runs over that trip,” William Buick, the winner’s jockey, said. “I think you’d probably have to get a miler running over a mile-and-a-quarter, or even sharper [to match him]. He’s got a hell of a cruising speed and he sustains it and picks up from it. He’s able to do things that very few horses can, and certainly no horse I’ve ever ridden can.
“I saw the ratings a couple of weeks back and I think he was up there at the top. It was a good Coronation Cup which he won at Newmarket, and in the Eclipse he beat Enable, although it was her first start of the year, and I thought this was a very good Juddmonte. It was a proper race.”
The last time Ghaiyyath was headed by an opponent was in last season’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and one was swiftly followed by several more as he faded to finish 10th of 12. He is a very different animal this year, however, who does not need long breaks between races and consistently produces top-class form.
"Let's put it out there, right now - this is the best turf horse in the world, end of story." @nickluck on the brilliant Ghaiyyath @yorkracecourse @godolphin pic.twitter.com/NjceleCqWW
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 19, 2020
“Post-race we see a different horse [now] because he’s not doing it the hard way,” Appleby said. “He’s a matured horse, at the end of the day. He’s hit every target [this year] and not let us down at all.
“We ran him in the Arc last year because we felt he was a contender and on what we saw today and in the Coronation, he seems to have got it all in the bag at the moment. Last year’s Arc, it was very soft ground and we were drawn out [wide] and we wanted to get on the front end and not change his style. I think it was the wrong decision and he was doing far too much.”
Windsor (postponed)
York
1.45 Noorban
2.15 Uncle Jumbo (nb)
2.45 Walhaan (nap)
3.15 Love
3.45 Sea Of Faith
4.20 Rhoscolyn
4.50 Dancing Vega
Chester
3.50 Iconic Queen
4.25 Wrenthorpe
4.55 Revich
5.25 Hereby
6.00 Spright
6.30 Danzan
7.00 Roundhay Park
7.30 Bossipop
8.00 Future Investment
Ghaiyyath is now a 6-1 chance for the Arc behind Love, who runs in the Yorkshire Oaks here on Thursday, and Enable, the winner of the race in 2017 and 2018, who are both 3-1 shots.
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