Friday 5 June 2020 16:29, UK
Ghaiyyath made every yard of the running to claim Group One gold in the Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup at Newmarket.
The five-year-old was sent off the 11-10 favourite and William Buick was quick to employ front-running tactics on Charlie Appleby's charge.
Buick allowed his mount to stride on and he soon built up a healthy advantage, with only Frankie Dettori on star stayer Stradivarius deciding heading out in pursuit.
However, he could not get back on terms and still had about four lengths to make up with a couple of furlongs to run, as Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck started to make later progress.
But Ghaiyyath was not for stopping and while Anthony Van Dyck made up ground in the final furlong, the Godolphin runner was two and a half lengths too good, with Stradivarius running a fine race in third.
Appleby said: "All credit to the team and many thanks to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed for allowing us to keep Ghaiyyath in training. To have five-year-olds around is a treat for any stable, but to have one the calibre of him is pretty special.
"He's some galloper and I knew after the first quarter-mile when William had him in that rhythm that it would take a good horse to get to him and there were many in the field.
"He was on it from flag-fall, but I could see he was in a rhythm we'd seen before. His mid-race move just kills them and it's great for him to get his first British Group One win.
"He's obviously effective at this trip, but we know he's not short of speed and we may now take him to the Eclipse at Sandown which is a race we like.
"One thing we've learnt about Ghaiyyath is that he is a top-of-the-ground horse, when in the early stages of his career we thought he needed a bit of give."
