St Nich at the Double in Diamond Jubilee Coronation Cup 02/06/12
1 St Nicholas Abbey 8/11F
2 Red Cadeaux 8/1
3 Masked Marvel 8/1 6 ran Distances: 4½l, 3¼l, 1½l
TIME 2m 34.52s (fast by 0.48s)
St Nicholas Abbey returned to Epsom to win back-to-back runnings of the Diamond Jubilee Coronation Cup, this time by an impressive four and a half lengths.
Winning trainer Aidan O’Brien said: “I’m delighted with him. He travelled so well and Joseph had him in a lovely rhythm. The horse has so much class.
“He has an option for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (at Royal Ascot) and I don’t think a mile and a quarter will be a problem for him but obviously the King George, the Arc, all those sort of races are there for him.
“He’s an amazing horse. It took a long time for him to come back from two but he’s very athletic.
“We are delighted to be here and part of it. It’s a real privilege and it’s great to be here.”
St Nicholas Abbey’s jockey Joseph O’Brien added: “When he goes to sleep early in his races, he is a very special horse. He has always shown a lot of ability and he is really coming to his old form.
“I got to the front too soon - he picked the bit up and I didn’t was to disappoint him so I just let him go forward. When he relaxes and quickens up like that, it takes a very good horse to go near him.”
Winning co-owner Derrick Smith, who received the trophy from the Queen and saw his colours carried in the Investec Derby by odds-on favourite Camelot, said: “He has vindicated all that we knew about him. When he was two, he won the Racing Post Trophy and last year, in the Breeders’ Cup - I think today was as good again.
“Joseph said that he put the horse to sleep in the early part of the race and he went to the front sooner than he wanted to. It was just a procession really, it was very, very, very impressive.”
Diamond Jubilee Coronation Cup (Sponsored By Investec) (Group 1)
£300,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m 4f 10y, Class 1
Last season’s Melbourne Cup runner-up Red Cadeaux may have proved no match for St Nicholas Abbey when second in the Investec Coronation Cup but trainer Ed Dunlop was still delighted with the run.
“We knew there was a hot shot in the race and Ryan (Moore) rode our’s beautifully to run on. He deserved a chance in a Group One in ths country and you’d have to say that on ratings this was the best run of his life.
“I’d always said we’d give him a break after Royal Ascot and he’s in the Hardwicke Stakes there so we’ll see how he is after this. Ronnie (Arculli) is very keen to go to Melbourne again and we’ll just see what the handicapper does. If he is given too much weight we might have to think about it.”
John Gosden, trainer of third-placed Masked Marvel, added: "We are happy with Masked Marvel, but he wasn’t that comfortable on the camber and William (Buick, jockey) said he would like to return to a more conventional track.
"Masked Marvel got his ground today, but we will run him on a track where you meet the ground or a flat track.
"We will keep him at a mile and a half and a race like the Hardwicke Stakes with no penalties is a strong possibility. It will be a strong race, but I would like to go there."
Epsom
Derby
