All is forgiven as Gosden and Dettori land Ebor
At Royal Ascot there was a falling out between two of racing’s leading figures. John Gosden had taken issue with Frankie Dettori’s Gold Cup ride aboard Stradivarius and had not been reticent in sharing those thoughts.
Trawlerman, meanwhile, was in the midst of a conflict of his own, his adversary an inanimate one as he had taken a distinct and enduring dislike to the starting stalls.
At Glorious Goodwood the gelding was victorious twice within the space of a few minutes, firstly in his run-in with the stalls and secondly in the Coral Summer Handicap, which he won by length under 5lb claimer Benoit De La Sayette.
The former episode earned him a BHA-mandated stalls test before he could run again, and in the Sky
Bet Ebor Handicap at York he was permitted to head to the start before the rest of the field in an attempt to keep the toys inside the pram.
Drawn in stall 20 and reunited with Dettori, himself reunited with Gosden, the bay started from a wide berth and stayed there for five furlongs, a lone figure until the first bend came and he eased across and settled into the lead.
Paddy Twomey’s Earl Of Tyrone, well-fancied at 5-1, waited in his slipstream and Global Storm was well-placed on the rail, but as the race unfolded it was Alfred Boucher, a winner on the same track just three days ago, who weaved his way through the field to challenge.
The grey looked poised to land an impressive Knavesmire double when leading at the furlong pole, but inch by inch Dettori ate into his lead until it was left to the judge to count the pixels in a photo finish.
Trawlerman’s fist was lifted, a short-head success that evoked memories of his sire Golden Horn’s bold, wide-running victory under the same jockey in the 2015 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
“We did in 2015 in the Arc, we did it with Muntahaa here in 2018 with Jim Crowley, winning the Ebor,” Gosden said.
“Once the draw came out, Frankie and I looked at each other. We didn’t have to say anything, we knew what we were going to do.
“He rode him beautifully, he did look rather solitary out there but it’s not a bad tactic – you’ll see about eight of them do it next year.”