Hornby bounces back in style
RoB hoRnBY’S fortunes turned in spectacular fashion yesterday as he galvanised 16-1 shot prosperous Voyage to beat 1-7 favourite inspiral in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at newmarket’s July Meeting.
hornby gained admirers for his measured reaction when he lost the mount on Westover for the irish derby — after riding the horse to third in the Epsom derby — and the colt powered home
at the Curragh with irish champion jockey Colin Keane on board.
he then suffered a blow when Scope, the colt that gave him his first Group one win last season, suffered a fatal injury on the gallops.
hornby also narrowly missed out on victory in the 1,000 Guineas on newmarket’s Rowley Mile course in May when Cachet beat prosperous Voyage by a neck.
But his quiet professionalism has been rewarded thanks to a twist of fate. had Frankie dettori and John Gosden not been reunited this week, it would have been the italian on board prosperous Voyage and not inspiral, a ninelength winner when the two met in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Two furlongs out it looked like inspiral was going to give the dettoriGosden team another Group one but prosperous Voyage stayed on far stronger than the red-hot favourite.
hornby, 27, said: ‘i am in such a privileged position and days like this make it worthwhile. it is a crazy sport with the ups and downs of it. i thought i was perhaps going to be a good third when they came to challenge me but she was so brave.’
Given their recent local difficulties, the defeat on a Gosden-trained 1-7 shot for dettori might seem like a red flag moment but the trainer conceded inspiral appeared to be feeling the effects of her Royal Ascot run.
Gosden said: ‘She was a little bit flat and the ground was probably quick enough for her. We will freshen her up and go again.’
The run-up to the race was marred when Summer’s Knight and Tribal Art sustained fatal injuries in the bet365 Trophy won by Soapy Stevens.