A summer of odd and muddling Group One races continued as Ombudsman, the favourite, eventually stayed on well through the final furlong to win the International Stakes by three and a half lengths, after Birr Castle, the 150-1 pacemaker, had straightened up for home with a 20-length lead.
It was an ultimately convincing success for a high-class and still-improving four-year-old, who did not see a racecourse until June 2024 but, less than a month after Qirat’s 150-1 win in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, it was not an easy watch.
Rab Havlin did not set a tearaway pace on Birr Castle but when Keita Tosaki, on the Japanese-trained Danon Decile, reined back at an early stage and stacked up the remaining runners behind him, the outsider soon acquired a huge lead. He eventually finished third behind Ombudsman and Delacroix, the market leaders, a clear sign that Havlin’s fractions had not been overblown.
“We’ve had a couple of races this season where we’ve probably wished we had one,” William Buick, Ombudsman’s jockey, said of the pacemaker, “especially the Eclipse [when Delacroix beat Ombudsman by a neck], and today we weren’t going to make that mistake again.
“Birr Castle is a proper stakes horse, and if you give a horse like that a lead on a flat track like York, it’s always a danger. So I was thinking: ‘This is a bit dangerous,’ and I was hoping Danon Decile would cut the deficit, because he’s proven over further.
“I had to cut the deficit myself and then he [Ombudsman] went again, which is a hard thing to do. To still have that finish in him at the end of the race was amazing.”
The Irish Champion Stakes, in September, and the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October are obvious targets for Ombudsman, although the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, over an extra furlong and a half, is another option that John Gosden, his trainer, did not entirely rule out. “William thinks he’ll stay a mile and a half but I think why change things?” Gosden said. “Were he to go for the Arc, we’d need one of the rare occasions with a fast-ground Arc.”
The Arc de Triomphe is no longer in play for Pride Of Arras, however, as the winner of the Great Voltigeur Stakes earlier on the card has been gelded since running poorly in the Irish Derby in June. Pride Of Arras is also barred from the St Leger at Doncaster next month, but there was still an eye-catching trial for the final Classic in Wednesday’s race as Carmers, the Queen’s Vase winner at Royal Ascot in June, stayed on well to finish second after being outpaced halfway down the straight.
Paddy Twomey’s colt is still available at double-figure odds for the Leger and that seems sure to be his next start. “I think he’s learned more today than in any race he’s won,” the trainer said. “It’s a big run and back up to a mile and six will suit him.”
Thursday tips: Minnie Hauk odds-on for treble
Thursday’s four-runner Yorkshire Oaks is in effect dead as a betting race as Minnie Hauk (3.35), the Oaks winner in England and Ireland, will set off at around 1-3 to complete a Group One treble in the feature event on day two of York’s Ebor meeting.
Aidan O’Brien, her trainer, completed the same treble with Snowfall in 2021, and is looking for his fifth win in the race in the past six seasons.
The locally trained Estrange is her only significant rival on form and deserves this tilt at a Group One after taking the Lancashire Oaks last time out, but it will be a considerable surprise if Minnie Hauk, already the second-favourite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, does not take another positive step towards the Paris showpiece in October.
York 1.50 America Queen is a fascinating unknown quantity after a devastating 12-length debut success at Haydock last month, but the timefigure for the race was only so-so and Ed Walker’s Royal Fixation has more solid credentials after a close second in the Group Two Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket’s July meeting.
York 2.25 Richard Hannon landed this hugely valuable two-year-old prize five times in seven years from 2016 to 2022 and the conditions favour Raakeb as he seeks to make it six from 10 for the yard. He gets a useful 7lb from the subsequent Group Three winner Tadej, who was just in front of him in the Coventry at Royal Ascot.
York 1.50 Royal Fixation (nb 2.25 Raakeb 3.00 Apiarist (nap) 3.35 Minnie Hauk 4.10 Aeolian 4.45 Stellar Sunrise 5.20 Maybe Not
Lingfield 2.00 Calchas 2.35 Mezcala 3.10 Starsong 3.45 Inlet 4.20 Best Adventure 4.55 Love Rock
Newton Abbot 2.10 Whatyouwaitingfor 2.45 Charlie My Boy 3.20 My Girl Katie 3.55 Hope Rising 4.25 Finest View 5.00 Faded Fantasy 5.35 Limerick Leader
Chelmsford 5.30 Apodictique 6.00 Isambard Kingdom 6.30 Havana Smile 7.00 Alkumatic Sam 7.30 Hot Frank 8.00 Vitalline 8.30 Poetic Jack 9.00 Pebble Island
Newcastle 5.45 Hatysa 6.15 Circus Of Rome 6.45 Alpine Sierra 7.15 Eldrickjones 7.45 Pixie Diva 8.15 Hyperchromatic 8.45 Eye Of Dubai
York 3.00 A host of possibilities in what is often as competitive a handicap as the Ebor itself but Apiarist has taken a slightly unusual route to the race and may have been slightly overlooked in the market as a result. Kevin Ryan’s four-year-old has done most of his winning on the all-weather, but he was a course winner as a juvenile, ran well on firm ground at Ascot in June and was an eye-catcher in a valuable seven-furlong handicap at the Galway Festival this month. He was the strongest finisher of all after finding trouble in running on the home turn, and is an interesting each-way option at around 12-1 from a handy draw in stall seven.
York 4.10 There are two runners in the royal colours in this Listed event for fillies and mares and, while Rainbows Edge is favoured in the betting after a close second at this track last time out, William Haggas’s Aeolian looks more likely to improve for this step up to a mile and a half.
