Churchill Authoritative In Dewhurst
The colt has now won each of his five starts over seven furlongs, including two victories at Group One level having beaten Mehmas (Acclamation) by four and a quarter lengths in the National Stakes (Gr 1, 7f) at his previous start.
Sent off the 8-11 favourite, Churchill travelled strongly throughout in midfield under Ryan Moore, though he was briefly short of room approaching the final furlong as Godolphin’s Blue Point (Shamardal) held him in.
Once extricated by Moore, Churchill put the race to bed with a smart turn of foot, stretching a length and a quarter clear of his stablemate Lancaster Bomber (War Front) in the closing stages, with Blue Point a further half a length away in third.
Churchill will return to Newmarket on 6 May next year to contest the 2000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m), a race for which he is the general 2-1 favourite.
Aidan O’Brien also saddled Rhododendron (2 f Galileo – Halfway To Heaven by Pivotal) to win the Fillies’ Mile (Gr 1, 1m) at Newmarket on Friday.
The filly met with defeat for just the second time in her career when third in the Moyglare Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 7f) at the Curragh at her previous start, but she relished the step up to a mile under Moore.
Having been held up in the early stages, Rhododendron came with a steady run to contest the lead at the two furlongs and quickened away in taking fashion to beat her stablemate Hydrangea (Galileo) by two and a quarter lengths, with a break of six lengths back to Urban Fox (Foxwedge) in third.
Like Churchill, Rhododendron’s victory cemented her place at the head of the 1000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) betting for next year.
The Jonathan Portman-trained Mrs Danvers (2 f Hellvelyn – Rebecca De Winter by Kyllachy) preserved her unbeaten record in the Cornwallis Stakes (Gr 3, 5f) at Newmarket on Friday.
The filly went through the ring unsold at £1,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Ascot February Sale earlier this year but has now secured £196,235 in prize money from five starts.
Mrs Danvers was never far off the speed under Richard Kingscote and quickened impressively approaching the final furlong to beat the Listed winner Clem Fandango (Elzaam) by a length and a half, with the front-running Battaash (Dark Angel) a further half a length away in third.
Poet’s Vanity (2 f Poet’s Voice – Vanity by Thatching) took out the Oh So Sharp Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) at Newmarket on Friday.
An impressive last-start winner of a Salisbury maiden, when easing clear to win by ten lengths, Poet’s Vanity crept steadily into contention under Oisin Murphy, who produced her to lead at the furlong pole.
The Andrew Balding-trained filly, who fetched 200,000gns from Book One of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year, stretched clear in good style to beat Glitter Girl (Invincible Spirit) by a length, with the same distance back to Unforgetable Filly (Sepoy) in third place.
Godolphin’s Best Solution (2 c Kodiac – Al Andalyya by Kingmambo) ran out a ready winner of the Autumn Stakes (Gr 3, 1m) at Newmarket on Friday.
The Saeed bin Suroor-trained colt was a close fourth to Larchmont Lad (Foostepsinthesand) in the Tattersalls Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) at his last start but took a step forward on his first start at a mile.
He travelled smoothly throughout in the hands of William Carson and galloped on strongly to register a two length success over Zainhom (Street Cry), with the same distance back to The Anvil (Galileo) in third.
Frankuus (2 c ex Dookus by Linamix) continued Juddmonte stallion Frankel’s (Galileo) excellent first season when landing the Prix de Conde (Gr 3, 1800m) at Chantilly on Saturday.
The Mark Johnston-trained colt was ridden to contest the lead approaching the final 500 metres and ran on strongly to get the better of Prinz Hlodowig (Rajsaman) by a neck, with the favourite Waldgeist (Galileo) just a short-head further away in third.
German raider Rainbow Royal (2 f Paco Boy – Show Rainbow by Haafhd) won the Premio Dormello (Gr 3, 1600m) at San Siro in Milan on Sunday.
The Andreas Wohler-trained filly ran on bravely in the closing stages to get the better of the favourite Mi Raccomando (Poet’s Voice) by a nose, with Stamp Collecting (Casamento) a further three and a half lengths further adrift in third place.
Three-year-olds
The Martyn Meade-trained Aclaim (3 c Acclamation – Aris by Danroad) secured a hat-trick of wins in the Challenge Stakes (Gr 2, 7f) at Newmarket on Friday.
The Canning Downs-part owned colt, who was a comfortable winner of the Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes (Listed, 7f) on his previous start, was restrained just in behind the pace under Frankie Dettori.
As the tempo quickened, Aclaim eased into a challenging position and battled on in determined fashion to edge out the front-running Group One-winner Lumiere (Shamardal) by a length, with Jallota (Rock Of Gibraltar) a further half a length away in third.
The result gave Meade his first Group winner, and Aclaim is now likely to be trained with a tilt at next May’s Lockinge Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) in mind.
Older horses
The William Haggas-trained Muffri’Ha (4 f Iffraaj – Grecian Dancer by Dansili) took out the Darley Stakes (Gr 3, 1m1f) at Newmarket on Saturday.
Muffri’Ha was never far away from the front-running Custom Cut (Notnowcato) in the hands of Pat Cosgrave, who brought the filly between runners to challenge approaching the final furlongs.
She showed a smart turn of foot to stretch a length and a half clear of the Godolphin-raced Carry On Deryck (Halling), with the same distance back to Aidan O’Brien’s Johannes Vermeer (Galileo), having his first start since winning the Criterium International (Gr 1, 1400m) at Saint-Cloud last November.
Wordless (4 f Rock Of Gibraltar – Holy Moon by Hernando) won the Premio Verziere (Gr 3, 2000m) at San Siro on Sunday.
The Stefano Botti-trained filly, who took out the Premio Paolo Mezzanotte (Listed, 2200m) earlier in the year, showed a good attitude to get the better of Meliora (Starspangledbanner) by half a length, with a further length back to Valuta Pregiata (Holy Roman Emperor) in third.