Sergei Diaghilev wins featured Coolmore Stud Churchill Stakes Aidan O'Brien won the feature race on the evening as Sergei Diaghilev stayed on strongly under Wayne Lordan to land the Listed Coolmore Stud Churchill Stakes at Gowran Park. Sent off 5/2, the Westerberg, Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor, D Smith-owned colt tracked Sea Of Rain in the initial stages before coming through to lead early in the straight. Strongly pressed by City Of Dubai inside the final furlong, Sergei Diaghilev kept on well to score by three-quarters-of-a-length. Stable representative Chris Armstrong said: "Going to Ascot, for some reason it never happened for him. "Coming here, we thought the step up in trip wouldn't be an issue. First time round a turning track, Wayne gave him a lovely ride from a wide draw. He jumped and got a lovely lead off Colin (Keane, on See Of Rain) and took it up in the straight. In fairness, when Billy (Lee, on City Of Dubai) came to him it actually helped him and he really hit the line strong. "On paper, it looked a very competitive Listed race. You could nearly say it was a Group 3, they were all there. "Wayne said it rode a good race. Trip-wise, he is grand at that (one mile). You could even bring him back to seven. "It was lovely ground today. He'll handle an ease in the ground. He handles good ground. Something maybe like the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. He won't be short of options come the end of the year. It's nice to get him back in a winning bracket and for whatever reason Ascot was just a non-event."
