Al Aasy still showing the way at the age of nine The evergreen Al Aasy showed his light remains undimmed with victory in the BetMGM Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot. The William Haggas-trained nine-year-old was last seen winning the Group Two Grand Prix de Deauville and has finished both second and fifth in this Group Three previously. Danny Tudhope wore the royal blue and white Shadwell silks as the gelding went off at 7-1, and in a three-way tussle came out on top to defeat Royal Playwright by a neck, recording his 14th career success. Shadwell’s Richard Hills said: “He’s unbelievable, he’s won a Group Two this year and he’s just won a Group Three when giving weight away. “We were worried about the ground and thought it might have been too quick, but William and the team have done a fantastic job and he’s still got plenty of enthusiasm. “I have a discussion with Angus (Gold, Shadwell racing manager) every year about him and he’s still here, so let’s hope the same thing happens this year and he comes back.” Hidden Force returned from an absence to take the second Group Three on the card, the John Guest Racing Bengough Stakes over six furlongs. Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, the chestnut won twice on the all-weather before making a turf debut in the Craven Stakes where he was third of five contenders. In lining up under Billy Loughnane at 6-1 he was stepping back on track for the first time since Newmarket and prevailed by three-quarters of a length from Prince Of India. Alex Merriam, assistant to Appleby, said: “With the way he won in the spring we were hoping he might be a Guineas horse, but he had a bit of an issue which didn’t help. “He’d been working well at home so we thought this was worth a go, dropping to six (furlongs). “They went a good gallop which suited him, it was very nice to get him back on track.” The £92,772 on offer to the winner of the BetMGM Challenge Cup went the way of Jack Channon’s Mezcala, who was returning to the scene of his Buckingham Palace Stakes success earlier in the year. At 5-1 under George Bass he came out on the right side of a photo finish, defeating the 7-2 favourite Moonfall by a head. “He started off on a very lenient mark of 85 as he had his issues as a young horse, he’s a big horse as well and is only just starting to fully mature now,” said Channon. “After he won at Doncaster (in the Spring Mile) we could have then run in a couple of other races but we waited for Ascot. “He’s improving all the time, he’ll strengthen again. He didn’t run at two and he’s a big horse, though still light-framed. “He’s a really nice horse and he’ll be a lovely prospect for next year.”
