Golden Horn (red cap) powered clear in the final furlong

 PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Dettori has golden touch as Horn hammers Gatsby

Report: Sandown, Saturday

Coral-Eclipse (British Champions Series) (Group 1) 1m2f7y, 3yo+

BEFORE the race Frankie Dettori had said he would be happy to make the running – and trainer John Gosden and owner Anthony Oppenheimer will be delighted he did – as Golden Horn made all to further cement his status as the superstar colt of 2015.

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He came into the race as the unbeaten Derby winner. But down in trip, and up against a dual Group 1 winner for the first time, he came readily clear to continue his streak of ever-more impressive winning performances and prompted his star jockey to label him the best three-year-old he has ridden.

Where the race was won
Golden Horn finally began to get the better of The Grey Gatsbyinside the final furlong but Dettori won the race at the start. Slowly away, he bustled his mount into the lead and set a strong pace which meant, come the final furlong, Golden Horn benefited from the dual advantage of his greater stamina and lesser weight.

The ‘hold your breath’ moment
The three and a half lengths at the line may suggest Golden Horn made light work of his rivals in the manner his starting price of 4-9 suggested he would, but The Grey Gatsby made him work hard for much of Sandown’s home straight. That the Derby winner was still full of galloping when his rival cried enough was testament to his ability.

Golden Horn had to battle with The Grey Gatsby for much of the straight

 PICTURE: Getty Images

The pair turned into the home straight with half a length between them and entering the final two furlongs Jamie Spencer was yet to go for his whip on the 7-2 shot. Indeed, it was Dettori who went for his first, but just as in the Derby, Golden Horn continued to gallop all the way to the line.

“He was pushed today,” said Dettori. “I had an easy lead but Jamie was very clever. He attacked early, he eye-balled me, but the horse showed what a true champion he is. He has a lot of guts and was going away at the end.”

Gosden added: “He’s found three lengths. It looked like it was going to be a real ding-dong battle, but he’s really asserted. I have enormous respect for the second.”

Splendid isolation: by the line he had pulled three and a half lengths clear

 PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

The best I’ve ridden
Having ridden over 200 winners at the highest level Dettori knows more than just about anyone to have sat on a horse what makes one top class. On Golden Horn he said: “In none of the races I’ve ridden him in or any of the gallops has he ever felt tired. He just keeps on galloping. He is a remarkable horse. His constitution is unbelievable. I’ve never got to the bottom of him. As a three-year-old, right now, I would say he is the best I’ve ridden.”

Future plans
An unbeaten Derby winner, who has joined Tulyar, Mill Reef, Nashwan and Sea The Stars as only the fifth horse since the war to complete the Derby-Eclipse double, has captured the bookmakers imagination, with odds-on prices offered on the King George, while he is close to favouritism for the Arc.

Paddy Power went 4-6 (from 7-4) for the King George and 9-2 (from 11-2) for the Arc, while Betfred went 6-4 for the Ascot race and 7-2 (from 4) for Longchamp. William Hill also went odds- on for the King George at 4-5, and 7-2 for the Arc with only two-time winner Treve shorter in the betting.

On his next assignment, Gosden said: “The horse will tell us. It’s my job to watch, see, and feel how he is, but if he’s well then the King George is obviously an option. If it’s a dance too far then we will wait. He’s not in the Arc, but I think he will be an Arc horse unless it comes up bottomless, but that’s getting a long way a long way ahead of ourselves.”

Golden Horn: could now go for the King George at Ascot later this month

 PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Kevin Ryan, trainer of the runner-up, added: “It was a great race, I think we’ve seen two exceptional horses. Considering the weight he was conceding he has run so well. I thought two down we had a chance, but he looked fantastic, there was no hard-luck story and it was a nice clean race. I’m very proud of the horse and we will wait for the Juddmonte as it’s six weeks away and he deserves a break.”

Ever-increasing margins of victory
Having won by a head on his debut at two, Golden Horn started his Classic season with a one and a half length success in the Listed Feilden Stakes. Two and three-quarter lengths was the margin of his Dante win, with the gap to Jack Hobbs increased to three and a half lengths in the Derby.

Golden Horn has not just captured the imagination of the bookmakers, with the racing public fast becoming smitten with the son of Cape Cross.

His sire, also responsible for the last Derby/Eclipse winner in Sea The Stars and wondermare Ouija Board, looks to have produced a third absolute superstar of the sport.

Still not over it
In what appeared another dig at Adam Kirby for his ride on Postponed against his Eagle Top at Royal Ascot, Gosden added: “He had to go forward and it was a lovely clean race, with no-one knocking anyone over, which makes a nice change.”

• The Grey Gatsby
• Eclipse result
• King George betting
• Arc betting

fonte : RacingPost

GOLDEN HORN   (GB) br. C, 2012 {9-c} DP = 5-3-12-2-0 (22) DI = 1.75   CD = 0.50 – 4 Starts, 4 Wins, 0 Places, 0 Shows Career Earnings: £931,409

HAYDOCK RESULTS

GOING: GOOD TO SOFT (8.6). Weather conditions: fine but breezy. 

STALLS: 5f, 6f & 1m2f – Centre; 7f – Inside; 1m4f – Outside