It was simple but ruthlessly effective as Trawlerman and William Buick made all the running to win the Gold Cup on Thursday. The Gosden stable\u2019s seven-year-old faced two four-year-old rivals with a touch more class but no experience of racing at two and a half miles and when Buick challenged them to catch him with a quarter of a mile to run, neither Illinois nor Candelari could summon a response.<\/p>\n
Candelari was a spent force with half a mile left, while Illinois\u2019s brief effort in the home straight scarcely made an impression on Trawlerman\u2019s lead as he galloped on relentlessly for the line. He had a seven-length advantage at the post and it was seven more back to Dubai Future in third.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the only way we were going to win,\u201d said John Gosden<\/a>, who has won the feature event on the first three days of the meeting. \u201cWe had to say, if you\u2019re going to beat me, you\u2019re going to know you\u2019ve been in a race, because you\u2019re going to have to go two and a half miles at a proper gallop.<\/p>\n \u201cWilliam said [before the race], \u2018from four out, I\u2019m going to notch it up, notch it up, notch it up.\u2019 So if they stay, they\u2019re going to have to stay every inch. He rode him perfectly and judged it beautifully. It\u2019s not an easy thing to do over two and a half miles.<\/p>\n \u201cI take nothing from the second. He\u2019s a fabulous horse, but two and a half miles truly run is not his game. Falsely run, he\u2019d be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n Gosden summoned up the memory of a great stayer of the past \u2013 the three-time winner Sagaro, with Lester Piggott in the saddle \u2013 to explain the appeal of a hard-galloping stayer like Trawlerman and acknowledged that his horse had been beaten by an outstanding champion in the now retired Kyprios in this race last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe ran Kyprios to a length and they were both all out,\u201d Gosden said. \u201cSo he deserves, with Kyprios not here, to come back and show he\u2019s a proper horse over this trip.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember the great horses that Lester Piggott rode, like Sagaro, the way he could run the last six furlongs in one [minute] 12 [seconds] flat. That\u2019s what I like, a horse that can go the distance, and then go, and you can\u2019t catch them.\u201d<\/p>\n Illinois was seen as a possible successor to Kyprios and Aidan O\u2019Brien\u2019s mighty stayer Yeats before the race, but the search for the next Gold Cup winner from Ballydoyle now seems likely to shift to the three-year-old crop. Trawlerman, meanwhile, is a gelding, and while he has left it quite late to attempt to join the list of multiple Gold Cup winners, Gosden will give him every chance.<\/p>\n William Buick celebrates aboard Trawlerman after winning the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n \u201cHe should be aimed at coming back here next year,\u201d the trainer said, \u201cand he shouldn\u2019t be over-raced in the meantime. Don\u2019t be surprised if you don\u2019t see him again until the Henry II [Stakes in May] next year.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t need to be going to all those [summer Cup] races or he might come back here for that race in the autumn [the stayers\u2019 event on Champions Day in October], he\u2019s won that [before], and then we\u2019ll put him away.\u201d<\/p>\n This was a fifth win of the meeting for the John & Thady Gosden team, but not enough to keep them in the lead in the race to be the leading trainer as O\u2019Brien, the winner in eight of the past 10 seasons, completed a 44-1 treble.<\/p>\n Charles Darwin (8-13) was an impressive winner of the opening Norfolk Stakes, while Garden Of Eden (7-1) took the Group Two Ribblesdale Stakes and Trinity College, the 5-2 favourite, made all the running in the Group Three Hampton Court Stakes.<\/p>\n The treble sent Ryan Moore well clear of his rivals for the top jockeys\u2019 prize with five winners. He is two clear of Oisin Murphy \u2013 who had a 42-1 double on Arabian Story in the Britannia Handicap and Never So Brave in the concluding Buckingham Palace Stakes \u2013 and three ahead of a trio of riders \u2013 including Buick and James Doyle \u2013 with two wins.<\/p>\n Kon Tiki can sail to success<\/p>\n Zarigana, who got the Poule D\u2019Essai Des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas) in the stewards\u2019 room, is the only runner in Friday\u2019s Coronation Stakes with a previous Group One victory to her name but still faces significant opposition as she pursues a second after two unbeaten fillies \u2013 Falakeyah and Kon Tiki \u2013 were given \u00a346k supplementary entries at the weekend.<\/p>\n Falakeyah in particular has captured the punters\u2019 imagination, and Owen Burrows\u2019s filly has since replaced Zarigana at the top of the betting with most firms.<\/p>\n She is back in trip after running away with the Pretty Polly at Newmarket \u2013 often seen as a trial for the 12-furlong Oaks \u2013 but showed plenty of speed in the early part of the race and should cope with the drop to a mile.<\/p>\n Zarigana could easily be unbeaten in five as her sole defeat was in a head-bobber for the Group One Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp in October.<\/p>\n This is far from a two-horse race, however, and the 7-1 shot Kon Tiki (4.20)<\/strong>, who has very similar claims to Falakeyah on her form, accelerated impressively to win a Listed race at York\u2019s Dante meeting in May.<\/p>\n On paper, this is a significant step up in class but that was a strong field for the level and she won in an excellent time, with more in hand than a half-length margin might suggest.<\/p>\n Royal Ascot 2.30<\/strong> Gold Digger <\/strong>showed an excellent turn of foot to justify market support on debut at Yarmouth in May and could be over-priced at around 8-1 to follow up in what looks an open renewal of the Albany Stakes.<\/p>\n Royal Ascot 3.05<\/strong> Two of 2024\u2019s Group One-winning juveniles are in the lineup for this year\u2019s Commonwealth Cup and Shadow Of Light, <\/strong>who was Europe\u2019s top-rated two-year-old thanks to a rare double in the Middle Park and Dewhurst Stakes, will be tough to beat dropping back to the Middle Park\u2019s six-furlong trip. He showed excellent speed to quicken into the lead in the 2,000 Guineas in May before fading late on behind Ruling Court and Tuesday\u2019s St James\u2019s Park Stakes winner, Field Of Gold<\/a>, and this return to a stiff sprint trip promises to play to his strengths.<\/p>\n