NEW CHAPTER FOR ULYSSES
Crowley edges home in Eclipse duel DYLAN CALLS TUNE IN OLD NEWTON CUP
JASON HEAVEY
Jim Crowley could hardly contain his delight when the judge called his mount the winner and punched the air.
The jockey had lost the ride on the fancied Eminent earlier in the week.
But Sir Michael Stoute’s four-year-old proved a brilliant spare ride as he cruised into the lead at the furlong pole.
Barney Roy fought back bravely in the dying strides and only failed by a nose to reel the winner back in.
There was high drama in the early stages as Derby runner-up and 7-4 favourite Cliffs Of Moher was tightened up on the rail and stumbled badly, losing vital ground under Ryan Moore.
His pacemaker Taj Mahal led the field into the straight before giving way and Eminent and Decorated Knight battled their way to the front.
But first Barney Roy and then Ulysses arrived on the scene travelling powerfully.
Ulysses found another gear to get to the front and looked set to win decisively but Barney Roy roared back tenaciously.
The pair flew past the line almost as one but the judge confirmed 8-1 shot Ulysses as the winner by a nose with outsider Desert Encounter was third.
Crowley had ridden Eminent on his previous four starts but was replaced by Silvestre de Sousa for this OUTSIDER Dylan Mouth lumped top weight to victory in the Old Newton Cup at Haydock yesterday.
Harry Bentley (right) steered the former Italian-trained gelding to a comfortable success over Soldier In Action. Big Country looked a likely winner two furlongs out but was swallowed up by the chasing pack and it was Marco Botti’s six-year-old who finished best of all to lift the £62,000 pot.
Bentley said: “He is a proper horse. He is rated 104 for a reason but off top weight it was always a bit of a worry. “I was a bit further back than I wanted to be but he’s done it well.
They went a decent gallop up front which suited us and I got a good run.” Robert Tart won the opener on race, freeing him up to get back on board Ulysses, whom he steered to third place in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last month. Crowley said: “That was fantastic. It was great to get the ride on him and I’m very grateful to the owners and Sir Michael Stoute. “I learnt a lot from riding him last time. “The race went really well today and when he got to the front he thought he’d done enough. “I cruised into the race and my only concern was getting there too soon. Fair play to the second, who came back at us, and I wasn’t sure we’d won.” Stoute, winning the Eclipse for the sixth time, said: “He’s a very brave and admirable horse and so consistent. “The only blip was in last year’s Derby and he got turned over twice, so he had no chance in that. “I wasn’t confident he was going to win, but I was hopeful. I felt he was holding on. I wasn’t at a good angle for the line so I didn’t know, but a lot of people congratulated me.” Zenon and then enjoyed his biggest success with a double for John Gosden on The Black Princess in the Lancashire Oaks. The rider timed his run to perfection to collar hot favourite Abingdon to take the Group Two contest by half a length. Tart said: “She did it nicely. She’s got guts and is very game. I was very pleased with her. This is my best day ever. “Mr Gosden has given me a Group Three winner (Cunco, in the Sandown Classic Trial) and now a Group Two winner.
“I’ve been part-time with him for two-and-a-half years and he’s a gentleman.” Ballymacoll Stud’s Peter Reynolds said of Abingdon: “She ran a super race but is Group Two-placed now and is a valuable lady.”