Treble seals third flat trainers’ title for Gosden

BREAKING the dominance of Aidan O’Brien is a hard thing to achieve, but John Gosden proved up to the task as a scintillating treble on Qipco British Champions Day helped secure his third Flat trainers’ championship.

With the coveted crown having headed to Ballydoyle for the past two seasons, and six times in total, the Newmarket handler foiled the hat-trick after taking Britain’s most valuable race day by storm at Ascot to wrap up the title with more than two months remaining.

Gosden said: “I gave the cup to Aidan and he had to give it to me this year. It means a lot. I said to Aidan on January 1 ‘we start with a blank sheet again, a bit like a football manager’.”

Though wins for Roaring Lion in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Stradivarius in the Long Distance Cup all but secured a first title for Gosden since 2015, the best was arguably saved until last, with Cracksman recording a brilliant second success in the Qipco Champion Stakes.

Arriving on the back of an odds-on defeat in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal meeting, the son of Frankel returned to his imperious best to take the Group One prize by six lengths, completing a double for Frankie Dettori, who was also victorious aboard Stradivarius.

Reflecting on the day, Gosden said: “Frankie, how he got through the Houdini hole on Stradivarius, I don’t know.

“I thought Roaring Lion was beyond brave, as he was never enjoying the ground, but he had the guts to win it, and I thought Oisin [Murphy] was cool and didn’t panic.

“Cracksman had been showing it home and the vibes were pretty strong from the work reports in Newmarket. I knew that just focus his mind and he will fly, and he literally flew. It’s not a bad day to have a treble.”

While most of those housed at Clarehaven Stables have played their part in some way in helping Gosden take title number three, there are several performances that particularly satisfied the trainer.

Gosden added: “I think getting Enable back was good, and getting Cracksman back is top class. That was very fulfilling, at the top level.

“To see Stradivarius going round after round is very fulfilling. It’s all down to the horse, as they have got to be strong in the mind and body and we are lucky to have them.”