Wednesday 17 June 2015 19:20, UK
GM Hopkins (8/1) held on under an inspired Ryan Moore to land a dramatic renewal of the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot.
The John Gosden-trained gelding led inside the final half-furlong but had to dig deep to repel the late challenge of Temptress as two of the strongly-fancied runners in the massive field fought out the finish.
Sirius Prospect set a fast pace and helped those drawn low fill the first three places, with Balty Boys the only runner drawn high to finish in the top nine.
He gave over the lead to Cambridgeshire winner Bronze Angel inside the two-pole and he kicked a couple of lengths clear, but there were soon plenty of challengers moving by Louis Steward's mount.
GM Hopkins hit the front under Moore but was quickly put under pressure by James Doyle on Temptress (9/1).
But he kept finding in the closing strides and won by a neck, with Chil The Kite (16/1) finishing third ahead of 25/1 shot Balty Boys, who was five lengths clear of those drawn high.
There was drama just inside the furlong market when Jimmy Fortune's mount Spark Plug clipped heels with the weakening Bronze Angel and crashed to the turf.
Thankfully, both horse and rider were quickly on their feet, but Fortune was taken to Frimley Hospital for a check-up.
Clerk of the course Chris Stickels reported: "Jimmy got up and walked to the ambulance, but is sore and has gone to hospital for a general check-up."
The stewards looked into the incident and ruled it accidental.
Moore was winning his fifth race inside two days of the 2015 meeting - he was odds-on favourite to win the leading jockey award before things kicked off on Tuesday.
Moore said: "It was very wild where we were, there wasn't an awful lot of pace. My horse travelled very well but I had to go a little sooner than I would have liked, but Frankie (Dettori, on favourite Ayaar) was stopping in front of me.
"Luckily enough I was on the right side, but you can't do much about that."
Owner Robin Geffen said: "The horses have been brilliant but I have the best trainer in the world, there's no doubt about that.
"Today has been amazing, to come third in a Group One (Western Hymn) and then win the Royal Hunt Cup, I just hope we're still doing this in 25 years."
Gosden added: "We were worried the pace wasn't on our side, but it turned out it was. We got him covered up, but Ryan said he got there too soon as I told him to get there later.
"He was a bit unlucky at Newbury the other day, but he ran a super race and there's nothing like coming into these races in good form.
"He went up 6lb for that, but to win these big handicaps now you don't try to be clever with the weights as you just don't get into the race.
"It was a very high standard. Ryan rode a beautiful race and covered him up well. I think we'll go to France for a lovely Listed race and plan a lunch!"
Roger Charlton said of Temptress: "She's run a fantastic race - she was brave and gutsy and came from a long way back. She went up 7lb when winning last time, but she could have gone up 8lb - and she beat Amazing Maria who has won today's Duke Of Cambridge Stakes.
"This is a hard race to win and it would have been a nice race to win. Wokinghams and Hunt Cups are hard to win - if you have the best horse in a Group race it wins if the jockey rides it well and you train it properly, but races like this are a lottery.
"Are you the right side, are you this, are you that? It's such a great race and it would be marvellous to win it - you don't get many opportunities, especially with a filly. The last to win was Macadamia [in 2003].
"It's quite interesting that in 2005 the bottom weight was 86 and it has crept up, so the average for the last five years has been 94. This filly was on a mark of 98 and only just got in - you used to get in to the Wokingham off a mark in the low 90s, yet Huntsmans Close is on 98 and needs four to come out before he gets in. The quality and competition has gone up and up and more people want to run horses in these races. You need horses that are fully exposed to get in."
Chil The Kite ran off a mark 1lb lower than when second last year, but still had to concede 5lb to the winner and 10lb to the runner-up. Trainer Hughie Morrison admitted: "We didn't deserve any less and have proved to be the best horse in the race two years running. We've come third and we cannot complain.
"To be 'well in' you used to need a Listed horse, but now you need a Group Three horse rated 103. We don't have conditions races worth enough money for horses to run in, which is where this horse should be.
"He's in the Bunbury Cup, but we are thinking of trying him at a mile and a quarter because he's settling so well. We bought him for £18,000 and he's been great fun - he's been second and third here, second in Turkey and he's won £300,000."
