Dubai: Godolphin’s season just keeps getting better and better with globetrotting Ghaiyyath making every yard to record a record-breaking victory the Group 1 Coronation Cup Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse in England on Friday.
The Dubai-owned stables’ horses have been in sensational form winning top races in Australia and France, and on Friday added one of British’s racing’s most prestigious events to their well-stacked trophy cabinet.
With jockey William Buick riding a confident race, the Charlie Appleby trained galloper took a keen hold and stayed on strongly to win by two-and-a-half lengths from Irish challenger Anthony Van Dyck with Stradivarius way back in third.
Ghaiyyath was ending Godolphin’s 21-year wait for a third Coronation Cup since Mutafaweq in 2001 and Daylami in 1999.
“He has phenomenal mid-race pace and a fantastic cruising speed,” William Buick told ITV. “Its very rare to see a horse that has so much speed stay as well as he does.
“He’s one of the flagship horses in the stable. He had a bit of an up-and-down season last year but it’s great to get the domestic season in the UK off to a flyer with him.”
“He’s a pleasure to ride and an amazing horse. On his day he’s a very explosive horse with a great cruising speed.
“This was a deeper field than some of the other races he has encountered and it was a good performance. He’s incredibly genuine and puts everything in to everything he does.”
It was hard to catch the expression on Appleby’s masked face after he had supplied Godolphin with a sixth Group 1 victory of the season and claimed his maiden Coronation Cup but he was full of praise for his stable star and the team at Godolphin, the stable created by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
“He’s a very high-calibre horse,” said the Epsom Derby and Melbourne Cup winning handler.
“We’ve seen him at his best on a few occasions now and after the first half-mile, I fully respected the field in behind with Classic winners and multiple Group 1 winners in there, but could see William was in that rhythm and I was pretty confident he could maintain that to the line.
“I’ve always felt that we’re dealing with the finished article this year and I’m hopeful his post-race condition will be stronger than it has been when he was four. If that’s the case then we might be able to back him up a bit quicker than we have done in previous years.
“As we have seen in the past he always has to have that gap between races as he puts so much effort into them every time he runs,” added Appleby.
“He looked a million dollars today.”
“The one thing that I’ve learnt is that he clearly a better horse on fast ground.”
The meeting got off to a flyer for Godolphin when the Saeed Bin Surour-trained Pure Beauty won the opening Maiden Fillies’ Stakes for jockey Pat Cosgrave.
The Coronation Cup, the first British Group One of the year was switched from its traditional home at Epsom because of the coronavirus shutdown.
