The saying is pace makes the race and if the 150-1 pacemaker Birr Castle threatened to turn Wednesday’s Juddmonte International into a farce he ultimately set it up perfectly for Ombudsman to stamp his authority in York.
For much of the race, though, it looked like turning into a repeat of last month’s Sussex Stakes when another 150-1 pacemaker, Qirat, held out for an unlikely victory as the big guns behind him involved themselves in a tactical morass.
Birr Castle was sent from France by Andre Fabre to cut out the pace for Godolphin’s 7-4 favourite Ombudsman and try to avoid the muddling tempo blamed for the latter’s defeat by Aidan O’Brien’s Delacroix in Sandown’s Eclipse.
Rab Havlin did his job to the letter and cut out even fractions on Birr Castle. But the five other big guns, led by Japan’s Danon Decile, opted to sit off him, concentrating on each other rather than the leader. At halfway Birr Castle was clear. On the turn in he had a lead of up to 30 lengths.
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“I thought two furlongs out Andre had won the race!” admitted Ombudsman’s relieved joint-trainer John Gosden. Beforehand Fabre had joked to the Englishman about wanting another Qirat result. But it was a gag that threatened to get very close to the bone.
Gosden’s Field Of Gold was the biggest gun of all in the Sussex, but this time Ombudsman eventually came through to pick off Birr Castle, William Buick getting all the plaudits for judgment that winning riders usually get.
Godolphin’s sixth winner of the prestigious race ultimately reversed Sandown form with Delacroix by three-and-a-half lengths. Birr Castle plugged on for an unlikely third with See The Fire beating Danon Decile for fourth.
If the ‘right’ horse won according to the market it still made for an unsatisfactory spectacle for such a major race. It also underlined once again that for all that pacemakers supposedly ensure an even gallop for everyone, they can come with a level of peril too.
“It was just a sprint, just a mess, really,” said O’Brien, someone usually keener than most to use pacemakers, although reliant solely on Delacroix this time. Buick, for his part, adopted a ‘never in doubt’ position, although the race hardly unfolded predictably.
“A lot of things were going through my mind. I didn’t expect Danon Decile to take back, I thought he wanted to chase the pace. Rab did his job beautifully and his horse finished third.
“This horse put in an amazing performance – unbelievable – so I’m delighted with him. He’s a very, very special horse and he showed all his attributes today,” he said.
Next month’s Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown is Ombudsman’s likely next port of call where complicated pace scenarios are hardly unknown either.
“What happened was the Japanese jockey was with Rab but then he kept taking back and let Rab slip the field. Past the two marker, he was still six lengths in front. William said when he let him go, he absolutely flew and went from second gear to fifth gear in the blink of an eye,” Gosden said.
“This is a great win, but I did think for a moment Andre would be the lucky man!” he added.
It was a frustrating day for O’Brien whose dual-Derby winner Lambourn was one of four Ballydoyle runners in the Great Voltigeur, only for none of them to make the frame.
Instead, it was Pride Of Arras who repeated his course win in May’s Dante on his first run after a gelding operation. Due to that unkind cut he can’t run in the St Leger but Paddy Twomey’s runner-up Carmers is on course for Doncaster and another possible duel with Lambourn, who was only fifth.
O’Brien said: “He went grand, they went steady and he’s lazy, I think it was a steadily-run race. All of them ran grand. The reason we ran Lambourn here was so that he had the option of either the Leger or the Arc. I don’t think the Leger trip will be a problem, we know he stays a mile and a half well.”
O’Brien’s Italy had to settle for second in the Group Three Acomb Stakes behind the Andrew Balding winner Gewan.
