At the fifth time of asking in the last four months, Trueshan and Stradivarius finally went head‑to‑head in the Group One Prix du Cadran. The outcome was a decisive success for Trueshan with defeat leaving Stradivarius, the outstanding stayer of recent seasons, seemingly on the brink of retirement.
The ground was too fast for Trueshan at Ascot, York and Doncaster, and too soft for Stradivarius in Sussex, which allowed Trueshan to get a first Group One on his record in the Goodwood Cup. His second, this time with Stradivarius in the field, was another step forward, as Alan King’s gelding charged four and a half lengths clear of his big rival, ridden by Frankie Dettori, after the two horses went into the final furlong neck‑and‑neck.
“Thankfully we got a nice spot and I could see Frankie quite close to me,” said James Doyle, who replaced the suspended Hollie Doyle, Trueshan’s regular jockey.
“There was a bit of cat‑and‑mouse out there so we had to switch our tactics and be a little more aggressive, but he’s such an amenable horse that he came back to me quite quickly.
“Someone we should mention is Hollie. She’s been a big part of this horse’s career and to miss out today through suspension is pretty tough. But that’s racing and it won’t be the first time or the last time that it happens, so good luck Hollie and you can look forward to him going forward.”
Bjorn Nielsen, Stradivarius’s owner, does not expect his seven‑year-old to run on Champions Day at Ascot in a fortnight’s time. He will talk to John and Thady Gosden, the co-trainers, and may now be tempted to retire his brilliant stayer to stud. “He’s had a hard race today,” Nielsen said, “and the ground at Ascot is guaranteed to be on the soft side, which is not his kettle of fish. It’s probably the one place that he’s done poorest at, because of the ground.
“I don’t know [about next year]. I’ve got to speak to John and Thady and see what they think. He was so dominant in ’18, ’19 and ’20 and age will get to you, ultimately. He’s obviously not as dominant as he once was, he used to just stalk and pick off horses, so we’ll see.
“I don’t want him to be like an old boxer who still thinks he can carry on. I don’t want to say ‘yeah, we’ll carry on, he’s running well and we’ve got excuses because of the ground’. At some stage you have to draw stumps and say: ‘He isn’t what he was.’”
Dettori and the Gosdens were on the mark in Saturday’s second Group One, the Prix de Royallieu, as Loving Dream fought back gamely after losing the lead inside the final furlong to beat Believe In Love by a short neck.
At Newmarket, Jane Chapple-Hyam celebrated the first Group One win of her career as Saffron Beach, the runner-up behind Mother Earth in the 1,000 Guineas in May, reversed the Classic form in the Sun Chariot Stakes.
William Buick, who will ride the Derby winner, Adayar, in Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, sent Saffron Beach straight into the lead and she still had three lengths to spare over Mother Earth at the line.
Uttoxeter 1.37 Unanswered Prayers 2.12 Writteninthesand 2.47 Orchard Grove (nap) 3.22 Gaia Vallis 4.00 Milkwood 4.35 Havana Hermano 5.10 Valence D'Aumont 5.40 The Bomber Liston
Kelso 1.55 Beeno (nb) 2.30 Do Not Disturb 3.00 Hello Judge 3.40 Ballyoisin 4.15 Dieu Vivant 4.50 Zafar 5.25 Sputnik
“It is definitely extra special to win my first Group One in Newmarket, as I’ve been here since I left school at 17,” Chapple-Hyam said. “I was a student that started at the National Stud and have worked my way through to where I am today.
“We knew there was a Group One for her and today was the day. You don’t mind waiting if they do it.”
