Public experience major shock in Newbury as Big Rock disappoints

The 22-1 shot was very much second string for John and Thady Gosden, with stablemate Inspiral seen as the real chance for Cheveley Park Stud, which owns both horses.

Big Rock was another obvious major player in his first run for Maurizio Guarnieri, but Queen Elizabeth II’s hero on the run never got involved as Audience – attempting a mile for the first time after being a proven performer in the group two/three at seven furlongs – was sent to the front of the pack under Robert Havlin to fix the splits early on.

The considerable lead he had built up now began to look insurmountable, with only Roger Varian’s Charyn able to launch a valiant chase, crossing the finish line a length and a quarter behind.

“When you know what this horse is and what he has done, then don’t leave him alone,” John Gosden said.

“He worked very well and I didn’t think Rab would be left in splendid isolation at the front, but I knew he would have a hell of a race against him. I told Rab to go straight and he followed his lead. mowing line and no one came near him. It’s wonderful for Rab because he puts all the work in with him.

“He’s a wild boy, but he’s a gifted horse – look at the race at Kinross, the town of York.

“He has strong group form and he has learned to relax more with age, if you leave a horse like that alone he is going to be very dangerous. We always knew he would be in it and I thought maybe he could finish in the top four or five. As it was, they ignored him and all started running to the other side.

“The idea was that he was there with Big Rock and he was softening up Big Rock, but he never really saw Big Rock. He had a great time and he’s a great horse. Mrs (Patricia) Thompson kept him in training very kindly rather than sending him to Hong Kong so he could be a lead horse for Inspiral and I think he covered himself in glory.

Thompson added of the winner: “It was amazing, we’re getting really good with geldings I think!

“He’s the half-brother to Esquire, the gelding who won Group 3 the other day (Greenham). It must have been a feisty family, he was very feisty.

Neither owner nor trainer were disappointed with Inspiral’s performance, fourth under Kieran Shoemark after starting as a 2-1 favorite.

“The filly will come in a bundle for this, the trainer is so desperate he couldn’t get her fit at home. I didn’t want to take him galloping on the racecourses, that’s not his game,” Gosden said.

“She would still need it, but there will be another day with her and we will be on the road with her. She had a great race and did quite well, which is what she did at Jacques le Marois last year with Frankie (Dettori). She came to run it and just got tired – she “exploded” as they say.

“In her work at home, she’s a lot older and wiser and I’m not going to tell her what to do, so she’s been quietly doing what she’s happier with and she needed that run to having her participate in Ascot and I am delighted with her race. She is in quite good condition.

“The Queen Anne would probably be the focus, as it would be for the public as well, but in talking to Ms Thompson we would also look at the one and a quarter mile race (Prince of Wales’s Stakes), because when she won the Breeders’ Cup – and I know it’s an easy mile and a quarter at Santa Anita – Frankie couldn’t get her up. He came back and said I think we’ve done it all the time. make the wrong trip So we’ll leave our options open and see how she goes next week.

Thompson opted to give Inspiral another season of training instead of sending her to stud, and added: “Inspiral always tells us when she wants to win, no one knows before her!

“We rarely have a filly like this, so we want to make the most of her as much as possible. We can wait until next year for the coating.

Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud, was delighted to see the lineage take over and had Royal Ascot in mind for the winner.

“This is a family that we have nurtured for 32 years, it’s extraordinary how we can go back to the fourth or fifth generation,” he said.

“There’s a lot of speed in the family and it’s a family that, as it can, has just reignited.

“Now we will have to seriously consider the Queen Anne for him, if we step up our trip for Inspiral – that will be a decision we make.

“We’re going to enjoy the moment and it’s just fantastic, we can’t really believe it!”

For Havlin, the success was a second at Group 1 level, and on a horse he knows well having ridden him in almost all of his career starts.

“It’s a nice surprise, last year we ran it on sprint courses at the start,” he said.

“He’s a bit of a thug, he had some great races last year and he really stayed at the end.

“It was always going to be a starting point, I didn’t think he would be good enough to beat Inspiral but he always threatened to have a good one in him.

“He gave himself a break, you’re kind of his passenger.” Let it be, we have learned from experience not to try to organize it.

“You let him do what he wants. He’s super talented. This is his first mile race and last year he never would have run a mile, he looked too much like a bull in a Chinese store.

“He’s had some good horses around him and if he can improve over a mile, which he obviously has, there will be some great races to be won with him.”