Stoute And Fallon Back In Old Routine

Sir Michael Stoute and Kieren Fallon teamed up to land an emphatic success with Gamut in the Princess Of Wales´s Edward St George Memorial Stakes at Newmarket on Wednesday.

And the victory of the willing six-year-old secured a ticket to the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes later this month.

Fallon and Stoute split at the start of this year, but although the circumstances may have changed, there remains a great deal of mutual respect and it was through Gamut´s owner Derrick Smith (Fallon is retained to ride horses owned by Smith, Michael Tabor and John Magnier) that trainer and rider were re-united here.

Stoute quipped: 'He´s (Fallon) doing well, isn´t he? I think he´s improving!

'Seriously, I thought Kieren rode him with a lot of initiative. This horse is tough and honest and there aren´t many like him around.

'He made the running before in the Jockey Club Stakes here earlier in the year (when second to Alkaased). We didn´t want to, but we thought he might have to and he enjoyed himself. He looked good today.

'He´s a very sound horse, but he´s big-topped and he needs a bit of cut.

'I haven´t talked to the owners, but I think we will throw our hat into the ring and go for the King George.

'He is six now and there isn´t a lot of scope for improvement from him, but he will give it his best and we will hope for similar ground.

'He is a very popular horse at the yard, a real character.'

Bookmaker reaction for the King George at Newbury on July 23 varied from 14-1 with Cashmans (initially laid at 16s post-race) and 12-1 with totesport, down to 8-1 with William Hill and just 6-1 with Ladbrokes.

Having taken the July Stakes earlier on the card for Aidan O´Brien, Fallon was completing a Group-race double on the day with a totally contrasting ride.

Initially it seemed as if there might have been a false start, such was the absence of early pace immediately after the stalls opened, with the riders of the five runners looking at each other until Fallon decided to kick on.

And so for the first mile of the contest the quintet raced in column formation, providing an unusual sight as, one by one, they came over the hill and into view at the top of the straight.

Although the winner was challenged by Day Flight just inside the final two furlongs, Fallon had kept something in the tank and asked his mount to stretch on, which he did willingly.

Accepting defeat in the final yards, Richard Hughes eased 6-5 favourite Day Flight off to allow the winner an eight-length winning margin at the line.

Dubai Success plugged on better than his two rivals to finish third, another three lengths back from the runner-up.

It wasn´t pretty, but it was effective. And rightly Fallon earned the plaudits for a sensible but well-judged ride on the 2-1 chance.

Fallon added: 'He´s a really good horse on his day. All he needs is a bit of decent ground and he got it here today. No-one wanted to go on so I decided to give it a go.'

John Gosden, trainer of Day Flight, admitted: 'I think Gamut is a superior horse and was ahead of us on the ratings - why our horse was favourite over him was beyond me.

'I said yesterday that our horse had never been up against horses of this calibre and I have been proven right. I was delighted with him, though.

'He has won Listed and Group races, but even in the French Derby he did not run against Group One horses like Gamut.

'We will probably now look to September and October with him and the Grosser Preis von Baden would be a possibility. There is also a nice race at San Siro for him.'

? PA Sport