3 minute read
Haydock winner reverses York form
ENBIHAAR gave John Gosden a record eighth victory in the bet365 Lancashire Oaks when taking the Group Two contest at Haydock.
The Newmarket trainer overtook the late Sir Henry Cecil's tally of seven, thanks to Enbihaar reversing York form with Dramatic Queen.
The latter had got the verdict on their previous meeting and made a gallant bid to make all the running over this mile and a half.
Enbihaar (5-2) was never far behind the leader and was produced by Dane O'Neill to make her challenge inside the final quarter mile.
Dramatic Queen (4-1) would not give in lightly and fought all the way to the line, as Enbihaar prevailed by a neck.
Klassique, a William Haggas-trained stablemate of the runner-up and sent off the 13-8 favourite, was third.
O'Neill said: "She's a tough, tough filly.
"If you looked at the race again the last day (at York), (if it had been) over a shorter trip, she was the winner then as well – but just got caught close home really.
On Gosden's record in the race, O'Neill added: "I haven't got a very good record in it – so I needed to ride for someone like him to get a winner!
"She's a smashing, gorgeous-looking filly.
"I spoke to Mr Gosden this morning, and we had an open plan. We said we'd jump well – which we didn't do! Then we'd probably follow along, if no one wanted to make it.
"Obviously, Richard Kingscote's filly (Dramatic Queen) has won over further, so he was keen for it to be a test, and he jumped positively.
"I'm not sure, whether we step up in grade – Mr Gosden and Sheikh Hamdan will have a talk about that.
"I wouldn't say her job is done (yet) – I'm sure we can get better out of her."
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