Belardo at Newbury delights for Roger Varian

Godolphin’s obsession with the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes yielded handsome dividends as Belardo seized the day at Newbury on Saturday.

Sheikh Mohammed’s team threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the Group One by declaring four runners.

It was a move which paid off quite spectacularly as the Roger Varian-trained Belardo, under Andrea Atzeni, provided the men in blue with a seventh success in the grand old race. It was some renewal, too, as the winning colt manfully held off Euro Charline by a length, with Irish challenger Endless Drama just a neck away in third.