BRILLIANT BENBATL
Emirati trainer Saeed bin Suroor saddled Godolphin’s Benbatl to victory in the Hampton Court Stakes on Day 3 at Royal Ascot on Thursday.
The three-year-old colt from Dubawi, ran a well calculated race under jockey Oisin Murphy to win the Group 3 contest by half a length over the Aidan O’Brientrained Orderofthegarter, the ride of Ryan Moore.
It was Benbatl’s second victory in five starts and his first big one after his maiden victory had come on debut in the Purple Vouchers Maiden Stakes, a Division 1 race run at Doncaster in April.
Benbatl, who was fifth in the Group 1 Epsom Derby earlier this month, had a decent start and kept pace with the lead pack before moving to second behind Orderofthegarter’s pace-setter Taj Mahal, ridden by Seamie Heffernan.
Murphy asked for more with just over one furlong out and Benbatl responded in amazing style by screaming past and taking the lead before going for home. Orderofthegarter challenged but didn’t have enough in the tank and had to settle for second. Sir Michael Stoute’s Mirage Dancer, the ride of Andrea Atzeni, was third.
Godolphin’s other two runners Tamleek, trained by Saeed bin
It’s brilliant to win at Royal Ascot. This is a hard race to win
Saeed bin Suroor
Suroor, and Bay of Poets, the charge of Charlie Appleby, finished eighth and 12th. “It’s brilliant to win at Royal Ascot. This is a hard race to win, but finally we found the right horse,” Saeed bin Suroor was quoted as saying to Sky Sports.
“He’s a nice horse for the future and Oisin is a jockey for the future. He’s done a really good job for us in Dubai and here, and we’re going to use him more in the future,” added the Emirati, who hinted that Benbatl could feature in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October or the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York in August. “I don’t celebrate very often, but that one meant the world to me,” Murphy, who clinched his first Royal Ascot winner, was quoted as saying to Sky Sports.
“It builds up in your mind and you’re just trying to get it out of the way and the monkey off your back. It’s fantastic to do it. We had the hood off him today and fair play to Saeed and everyone at home, they got him here today in top order and he won with a bit in hand. He travelled like the best horse in the race because he was the best horse in the race,” he added. Meanwhile, Big Orange held off a late charge by defending champion Order of St George to win a thrilling edition of the feature race of Royal Ascot, the Gold Cup.
The winner’s jockey James Doyle took the plaudits for a superb ride, but his heart went out to Italian star Frankie Dettori, who should have been riding him but for an injured arm that ruled him out of the meeting. “Unfortunately Frankie couldn’t have got the injury at a worse time,” said Doyle.
“Frankie’s a real star. He called me a couple of nights ago and I was probably on the phone for about 20 minutes getting instructions and him telling me all about the horse. He was spot on.
“You can’t do it without the help of everyone. Frankie said to me ‘whatever you do, don’t interfere with him’. He knows what speed he wants to go at and you just sit as a passenger.
“I had Frankie’s voice in my head as I just eased him out and let him go to the front and the rest was history.” Order of St George looked set to record successive wins as he gained and gained on the long time pacesetter Big Orange, but Doyle just managed to keep his nose in front as they hit the line.
“This horse is as tough as they get,” said Doyle.