Duke continues winning streak
The Juddmonte International may have been moved from its traditional home at York due to the unseasonal weather, but there was a distinct case of deja vu about the result.
Yet again this season a Group One prize went the way of Aidan O'Brien and Johnny Murtagh with the redoubtable Duke Of Marmalade winning his fifth top-level prize on the bounce.
He may not be as flashy or grab the headlines as some of his more illustrious stablemates of recent years, but his progression since winning the Prix Ganay in April to being arguably the top turf horse in the world has been a masterclass from O'Brien.
Quite simply, the man has no peers, this was his 18th Group One victory of the season and since the decision from Coolmore to keep their good horses in training for longer, O'Brien has delivered one big prize after another.
Once more Murtagh was faultless on the four-year-old, following pacemaker Red Rock Canyon until four furlongs out and then shooting up the rail to take a more prominent position.
The only serious threat emerged from the luckless Phoenix Tower, who at one stage looked as if he would reel in The Duke but he was going backwards at the line and lost by three-quarters of a length.
Who knows, on the flatter Knavesmire Henry Cecil's charge may have prevailed.
This was supposed to be the big showdown between The Duke and Derby winner New Approach but after pulling ferociously for the first quarter of a mile Kevin Manning did well to steer Jim Bolger's pride and joy into third.
O'Brien said: "He is so special that you wonder if he is flesh and blood. If horses were made out of concrete and stone he would be made out of something harder.
"He is just one of those very special horses, and you can see that yourself.
"He will never win too far, which is probably to his advantage.
"If all is well with him the plan will be to go Leopardstown with him in two weeks for the Irish Champion Stakes."
Bolger said of New Approach: "He's beaten but definitely not battered. He ran a good race and is obviously on the way back.
"We'll regroup and I'm sure you'll see a different horse in two weeks' time, I'm not using the ground as an excuse.
"It will be Leopardstown next for the Irish Champion Stakes."
The rest of Newmarket was dominated by Ryan Moore and Richard Hannon who both had trebles - and combined for two of them.
However, Moore was one the wrong one in the rearranged Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Lowther Stakes.
Super Sprint runner-up Infamous Angel got up in the dying strides to beat stablemate Penny's Gift to give Hannon his second one-two in a valuable juvenile race in two days.
But the unlucky loser was Queen Mary heroine Langs Lash, carrying a 3lb penalty she lost by just a quarter of a length having looked the winner with a furlong to run.
Richard Hannon jnr, the trainer's son and assistant, said: "We'll have to look at the Cheveley Park Stakes now, she's not in it at the moment but we'll have to discuss that.
"The second is a nice filly, she just struggled for a bit of speed."
Moore and Hannon's 16-1 chance Edge Closer took the Countrywide Steel And Tubes Hopeful Stakes convincingly, having beaten subsequent Nunthorpe hero Borderlescott at Salisbury earlier in the season.
Moore also produced Gal Aloud (16-1) to come with a show-stopping finish in the Adnams East Green Nursery then claimed his own hat-trick on David Barron's 100-30 favourite Dark Lane in the sales consolation race, the DBS St Leger Yearling Stakes.
Over at Goodwood the St Leger picture was muddied further as ante-post favourite Patkai was beaten out of sight behind John Gosden's Centennial.
Centennial made every yard but would need to supplemented for Doncaster.
"It was my fault he wasn't left in the St Leger," said Gosden.
"I will discuss it with the owners, but there is enough money in the pot from today if they decide to supplement."
Gosden was also on the mark in the Celebration Mile with Raven's Pass, who could now lock horns with his nemesis, Henrythenavigator, in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.
"I'm hoping for good ground at Ascot and that all three leading three-year-olds (Henrythenavigator, Raven's Pass and Tamayuz) turn up. I'm not afraid to take Henry on again, but soft ground would mean we'd be an unlikely runner," said Gosden.
"The plan has always been the Breeders' Cup Mile as he's US-bred and part-owned by an American operation."
Luca Cumani has a smart filly on his hands as Fantasia maintained her unbeaten record with a smooth performance in the toteswinger Prestige Stakes.
She is set to head for the Group One Fillies' Mile next.
Over in Ireland, for once O'Brien was put in his place in a Group race as John Oxx's Arazan was a hugely impressive winner of the Futurity Stakes, despite an army of five from Ballydoyle.
"The ground will determine where he'll go," said Oxx.
"He's bred for quick ground, but I wouldn't be too keen on running him on the quick ground as a three-year-old."
Paddy Power cut the Aga Khan's colt to 6-1 joint-favourite (from 20-1) for the 2000 Guineas alongside Mastercraftsman. William Hill slashed Arazan's odds to 12-1 from 33-1 for the same race and gave him an opening show of 20-1 for the Derby.
Murtagh was at it again on Sunday too, claiming the Group One Prix Morny at Deauville on the David Wachman-trained Bushranger in the Coolmore colours of Derrick Smith.
