Eclipse hero Ghaiyyath may target York’s Juddmonte showpiece next

This was not a fluke result to the historic 10-furlong Group One.

The frontrunning Ghaiyyath had already won the Coronation Cup at Newmarket while Enable, the 2019 Eclipse heroine, had not raced since last October’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

And while John Gosden’s stable star will definitely improve for the run, it should not detract from the winner who was given a beautifully-timed ride by William Buick for the Godolphin team.

Slow to break, Ghaiyyath was soon at the head of this select field, controlling the pace as Buick had intended, and the pursurers never got close to the victor’s girths.

Enable just held Aidan O’Brien’s Japan, last year’s Juddmonte hero, in the battle for the minor placings.

Ghaiyyath was a 45th birthday present for trainer Charlie Appleby who believes the globetrotting colt is now the “finished article” with the maturity to dominate racing’s top races.

On future plans, he said: “We always felt York (Juddmonte) could suit him.”

As for Buick, the jockey was effusive. “Last year was in and out for him,” said the former Northern Racing College graduate. “He had some fantastic performances and some disappointments due to circumstances.

“That was a great performance and from a rider’s point of view he’s becoming more manageable and grown up. He’s an amazing horse to ride. This ranks right up there.”

Meanwhile Enable is set to reappear in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot later this month, a race she won in a thriller in 2019 from Crystal Ocean.

Enable’s weekend capped a frustrating weekend for her jockey Frankie Dettori. First his mount Frankly Darling had to play second fiddle to the O’Brien team’s Love in the Oaks.

Already a winner of the 1000 Guineas, Love looks a superstar. Favourite for the Arc, the key question is whether connections take in Doncaster’s St Leger en route to ParisLongchamp in a bid to win the fillies’ Triple Crown for the first time since Oh So Sharp in 1985.

And then Dettori’s mount English King veered left at the start of the Derby, losing any chance in a race in which the unheralded Serpentine made all under rookie rider Emmet McNamara to provide the aforementioned O’Brien with a record eighth win in the race.

Just seven days after Serpentine broke his maiden tag at the Curragh, McNamara won the race, as much as his rivals lost it, by using the descent to Tattenham Corner to build an ultimately decisively lead that was a wide margin five and a half lengths at the winning post.

On a landmark weekend, Safe Voyage gave North Yorkshire-based trainer John Quinn his 1,000th career winner by taking the Listed honours in the Investec Surrey Stakes at Epsomunder Jason Hart.

The seven-year-old stable stalwart powered home in the final half-furlong to assert close home and land a tidy victory – in a track record time.

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