Ombudsman eventually came out on top in an exciting renewal of the Juddmonte International Stakes at York.
The 7-4 favourite was ridden by William Buick for John and Thady Gosden, with the fellow Godolphin-owned runner Birr Castle sent out to make the running as a rank outsider in the field of six.
The latter horse was afforded an enormous lead and as he rounded the turn for home it looked quite possible that the chasing pack would not catch him, but as he tired, Ombudsman was gaining ground.
He eventually swept through to grab the lead and while Delacroix also made late gains, Ombudsman emerged a three-and-a-half-length winner.
Birr Castle was transferred to the Gosdens to make the running at York and John Gosden said: “(Trainer) Andre Fabre said the horse was in top form and ‘I hope he does a good job for you John, I would like you to have the same result as in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood (when the pacemaker won)’!
“I said ‘OK Andre, I will do my best to make sure he goes a nice, even pace’.
“I thought with two furlongs to run Andre had won the race! You don’t often see that, he’s run a huge race to be third.
“I did say to William that if he’d sat four lengths off the pacemaker he’d have won by 10 lengths but there we go.
“What happened was the Japanese jockey was with Rab (Havlin on Birr Castle) but then he kept taking back and let Rab slip the field. Past the two marker, he was still six lengths in front.
“William said when he let him (Ombudsman) go, he absolutely flew and went from second gear to fifth gear in the blink of an eye.”
Ombudsman had finished a neck behind Delacroix in the Eclipse last time out, but Gosden felt that race was perhaps not run to suit.
He said: “The Eclipse was a muddling race and we’ll leave it at that. Full marks to Delacroix, but in an evenly-run race we were the superior horse today.
“This is a great win but I did think for a moment Andre would be the lucky man.”
Ombudsman was claiming the second Group One victory of his eight-race career to date, with Gosden’s sights already set on more top-level success.
He added: “He had a little problem as a baby and we never raced him at two and he came along gradually. He’s getting better and better, has trained well and was unbeaten last year. His only defeat this year was in the muddling Eclipse and he’s a proper horse.
“The two obvious races for him are the Irish Champion and Ascot for Champions Day. It will be Sheikh Mohammed’s decision if he stays in training but he is a sportsman.
“William thinks he’ll stay a mile and a half but I think why change things? Were he to go for the Arc, we’d need one of the rare occasions with a fast-ground Arc – which do happen occasionally.”
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