St Nicholas Abbey wins third Coronation Cup

St Nicholas Abbey was a convincing winner of his third Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom.

he six-year-old is nearing £5million in career earnings and he arguably produced his most convincing of his three victories in the Coronation Cup where he justified his starting price of 3/10 favourite with the minimum of fuss.

Chamonix and Chapter Seven fulfilled their obligations as pacemakers for the field, but as the remaining three riders engaged in a game of cat and mouse tactics in behind - it was Joseph O’Brien that was first to commit his mount for home after they had passed the three furlong pole.

Produced to lead as they came to two out, the colt was asked to go about his business and he soon had his rivals put to the sword.

Dunaden engaged in forlorn pursuit for a brief spell before Jamie Spencer accepted the situation in second while Joshua Tree was a remote third.

“He’s an incredible horse and has everything you want in a racehorse, he quickens, he travels and is a joy to be around,” said Aidan O’Brien afterwards. “Everyone has done a good job with him at home and he’s a privilege to be involved with. Joseph said he has been very fresh the last few weeks and Chamonix leads him at home, which is why he ran. It’s been a while since he ran.

“He’s a great traveller, comes down the hill well and slowly moves up the gears, it was great. What everyone forgets is how much speed this lad showed as a two-year-old, he had that class all the time. Obviously, the trainer destroyed him at three and it took him three years to get back. He is an incredible horse.

“The lads said they might bring him back for Ascot, maybe the Hardwicke, on the way to the King George. If he doesn’t go to Royal Ascot, he will probably have to go away for a racecourse gallop anyway, so it’s possible he will go there.”

Prior to his Investec Derby win on board O’Brien’s Ruler Of The World, Ryan Moore conjured an amazing finish on Duke Of Firenze in the Investec Specialist Bank ‘Dash’.

The Michael Stoute-trained four-year-old has always promised to land a decent pot but just over a furlong out there were only three behind him. One of those was David O’Meara’s Smoothtalkinrascal who made up even more ground than the eventual winner and flashed home to finish second, following a similar route to Moore.

The former champion jockey got his mount organised just in time and the 5-1 favourite won by a neck with Dinkum Diamond the same distance away in third and Fair Value, who led until well inside the final furlong, fourth.

Chris Richardson, managing director of winning owners Cheveley Park Stud, said: “He banged his head in the stalls (at York) last week and never got into it so we thought as he hadn’t had a race he could go again. I wondered if he would be quick enough for this as six furlongs is more his trip. He’s in the Wokingham and this gives us another string to our bow.”

Moore said: “He got outpaced in the first furlong. I wanted to stay on the fence, I thought David Barron’s horse (Long Awaited) would bring me a bit further but I had to come through and he’s picked up well.”

Thunder Strike proved to be another of Richard Hannon’s jet-propelled two-year-olds as he collected the Investec Woodcote Stakes under Richard Hughes. Stall one was favourable for the 3-1 joint-favourite, who is now unbeaten in three starts, and he kept a prominent position throughout to win by three and a half lengths from an incredibly fast-finishing Riverboat Springs.

“I think he was obviously the best horse in the race, but he wasn’t that impressive last time at Windsor which meant I didn’t have such high hopes,” said Hannon’s son and assistant, Richard junior. “He’ll go to Ascot now, either for the Norfolk or the Coventry Stakes.”

Hughes said: “We’ve brought a lot of nice two-year-olds here but they normally get beat. I said to Richard that he jumps so fast which is a massive help here. “He told me not to go too fast but to make use of his good draw and it’s a very fine line here.”

It was not the Classic itself but Pasaka Boy had his own Derby Day victory in the Investec Out Of The Ordinary Handicap. Trainer Jonny Portman had withdrawn the colt from the big race after his third-placed finish in the Lingfield Derby trial but he had the breeding to cope on the Downs as his dam Shesha Bear was a course specialist.

Kept up with the pace by Richard Kingscote, the 25-1 shot found plenty in the closing stages to win by a length and a half.

Portman said: “It’s great just to be here, let alone have a winner. The owner was keen on the Derby but he didn’t really go down the hill at Lingfield so I thought there was no point going to Epsom. He handled it well there, I suppose. I knew the horse was very well though, as well as he has ever been.”

David Simcock’s Sheikhzayedroad (5-1) won the Investec Zebra handicap for David Simcock and Martin Lane while Richard Fahey replicated his success on Friday by winning the final race of the day with Arctic Feeling (25-1) under Jimmy Quinn.