Parliament third as Army lands Dee The Aidan O'Brien-trained Housesofparliament came out worst in a three-way thriller in a dramatic renewal of the Betdaq Dee Stakes at Chester. In a race of rapidly changing complexion, Richard Hannon's Viren's Army got up when it mattered in the hands of Silvestre de Sousa. Kingston Kurrajong was harried into the lead as the field rounded the first bend, but his hopes petered out at the top of the home straight. Platitude was first to mount a challenge, followed by Housesofparliament, but the winner had greater momentum inside the final 100 yards. And though 5-4 favourite Linguistic flew home in the Godolphin silks, De Sousa's partner (12-1) seized the day by a short head, with Housesofparliament another head away in third. Housesofparliament's better fancied stable companion Cook Islands was always on the back foot in the hands of Ryan Moore and could only manage fifth. Coolmore's UK representative Kevin Buckley said: "I think Housesofparliament ran a good race. He got hemmed in a little bit, but he ran well. "Ryan had to work hard with Cook Islands. I think it just took a while for the penny to drop and the race had gone." De Sousa said of the winner: "He's very tough. It was a bit of a messy race, but everything worked out well. They went a very decent gallop and he answered every question I asked him - he's a nice horse. I was in the right place at the right time and everything worked out well." John Gosden said of Linguistic: "I'm really happy with his run. He'd only run on straight tracks, so he learnt a lot today. He got a bit further back than we wanted, but I liked the way he finished. He wants a mile and a half now. We'll look at a race like the Cocked Hat (at Goodwood)."
