A review of the action from Friday's meeting at Epsom where Hukum ran away with the Dahlbury Coronation Cup.
Hukum delivers for Burrows
Owen Burrows saddled his first Group One winner when Hukum (11/4) ran away with the Dahlbury Coronation Cup.
Jim Crowley was content to track the front-running Pyledriver until passing the two furlong marker and his mount soon settled matters when asked the question.
The five-year-old, a full-brother to Baaeed, was clear in a matter of strides and hit the line four-and-a-half lengths clear of the 2/1 market leader.
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Crowley said: “He’s always threatened to do that, if you remember what he did at Ascot last year in the Cumberland Lodge, he absolutely demolished them.
“He’s always been there, he was unlucky in the Sheema Classic I felt, finishing seventh but beaten less than two lengths. Coming here today I was confident he’d go close. He’s won over a mile and five furlongs so I didn’t want a sprint. When I saw Frankie go, I had to make the decision to go and after that he was a great ride.”
Burrows said: “He won his Group Two in Dubai and then probably ran a career-best in the Sheema Classic. He was drawn wide that day, they didn’t go quick and he was only beaten a little over a length and a half so I was relatively pleased.
“I always thought he might win a Group One, he looked progressive there so we’ll have to see where we go next.
Owen Burrows celebrates a huge win
“A bit of juice is important, but he’s pretty versatile. He’s in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, he’s in a German Group One, he’s in the Irish St Leger and then we possibly thought Canada. I thought we might have to travel to win one, but we might have to rethink that now.
“The King George is the obvious one, but we’ll have to see what the ground is like. He’s not in the Arc but it was a conversation, we did debate it. It will have to be an option and he’s in that division now.”
Buick doubles up
William Buick made the perfect start to the Cazoo Derby Festival when 4/1 joint-favourite Legend Of Xanadu won the opening Cazoo Woodcote British EBF Stakes.
Drawn wide in nine, Mick Channon's charge made his challenge down the centre of the track as Commander Straker grabbed the rail and blazed a trial.
It was clear a furlong out the winner had his measure and while Self Praise emerged to chase him home, Legend Of Xanadu went on to score by a length-and-a-quarter.
Paddy Power and Betfair introduced the winner at 14/1 for the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.
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Jack Channon, assistant to his father, said: “Dad is at home today. He might come tomorrow as we have two runners. It is a big old crowd and he has plenty of work on at home. He is a cracking home-bred and that was a great performance.
“He is a lovely horse and always has been from day one. Everyone keeps saying he needs further, but you have only got to look at the horse to see his is built like a two-year-old and he is certainly proving that.
“He will certainly get further, but I asked William after Redcar, ‘would you step him up to seven (furlongs)?’.
“He said to stick at six as he has so much speed. Today he showed he can stay as they went hard and he stayed on really well up the hill. I’d say the Chesham would be the obvious route now, as this is not a Listed race and he won’t have penalty going into that, so that would be the obvious route.”
Legend Of Xanadu wins the Woodcote
Charming win for Boughey
Buick made it two from two as Totally Charming ran out a ready winner of the World Pool Handicap.
Like the first winner he went off the 4/1 joint-favourite and a furlong out it was clear he had this in safe keeping.
George Boughey's charge showed a smart turn of foot to draw a length-and-a-half clear of Revich (9/1) and earn a 14/1 quote from Paddy Power and Betfair for the Royal Hunt Cup. Sky Bet were more impressed and go 12/1 from 25s.
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Boughey said: “He’s been training good. The ground was a bit of a question mark as he’s been doing his winning on the all-weather but he’s progressive.
“He’s a horse we’ve put in the Hunt Cup but over the last 10 or 12 years he wouldn’t have got in off that mark 91 so we thought we’d come here.
“He’s an agile horse, he’s a fun horse and mentally he’s a lot more relaxed now. We gelded him and he’s maturing.
“He’s only done one bit of work since he last ran and doesn’t take a huge amount of training. He’s bred to be a turf horse so I thought he’d handle it.”
Champion for Varian and Atzeni
There was a winner for Ben Linfoot's ITV Tips column as Royal Champion (14/1) landed the Cazoo Handicap.
Roger Varian's charge defied market weakness to run out a ready winner, beating Soto Sizzler by two-and-three-quarter lengths, and he was cut to 12/1 for the Royal Hunt Cup by Betfair and Paddy Power afterwards. Sky Bet are 14s from 25s for that race and 12s from 20s for the John Smith's Cup at York.
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“He was straightforward. He wasn’t very nice as a two-year-old and we tried him quite highly last year,” Atzeni said. “We had him in the Feilden, because we wanted to see if he was a French Derby horse or a Derby horse, and he ran OK. Then we tried him in the Dante and it didn’t really work out.
“Maybe the horse didn’t really have a chance, but we were scratching our heads a bit because his work at home has always been good. That is the reason we went for those sort of races and he is beautifully-bred. He is by Shamardal out of a good mare (Emirates Queen) – I used to ride her.
Royal Champion leads them home at Epsom
He needs to get his toe in and obviously he has been gelded. I’ve no idea what the plan is for him. We did not know what to do with this fellow until today – we just had to find out.
“Trip-wise, we didn’t know if he was a mile or a mile-and-a-quarter horse, but he is a home-bred, which is nice.”
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