'Bull of a horse' continues his upward trajectory Winning three of his four starts as a juvenile, Charles Darwin made a successful return in the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Committed Stakes. The exciting No Nay Never colt was last seen beating 14 rivals in the Norfolk at Royal Ascot last summer and was expected to continue his upward trajectory this afternoon, going to post the 4/11 favourite (4/6 in early shows). Despite edging right from the stalls under Ryan Moore, the Aidan O'Brien-trained bay quickly got to the front and made all, responding well when ridden from the furlong pole. There was a length-and-a-quarter back to Silk Braid (15/2) in second, while Starman Tom finished strongly down the outer to take third. Stable representative Chris Armstrong said: "It was good to get him started. He's a bull of a horse, he's been off the track since Ascot. He was under the penalty here and he will strip a lot fitter for the next day. "He will go from here, all being well, to the Lacken (Stakes, Group 3) at Naas and then Commonwealth Cup. "He's a horse everyone has been looking forward to for a while now, and I think when he puts everything together now, he will be a very good sprinter. "He has done unbelievably well physically and you see him when he is walking around the ring. "All being well, he gets to stud and he will be very exciting, but hopefully there's a lot of big races in between now and then." O'Brien was completing a cross card double, having taken the opener at Limerick with Signora. Additional reporting by Michael Graham
