Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes
Group 1, Newbury 15:55 £350,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m, Class 1
Saturday 14th May 2016

1 Belardo 8/1
2 Euro Charline 12/1
3 Endless Drama 8/1
NR: Arod (IRE)
12 ran Distances: 1l, nk, 1¼l
TIME 1m 38.18s (slow by 2.58s)

Belardo swoops under Andrea Atzeni to hand Godolphin a seventh Lockinge

Belardo
© Racehorse Photos

Belardo returned to top form with a second Group One victory of his career.

Roger Varian's 2014 Dewhurst Stakes scorer endured a winless 2014 campaign and appeared to take another backward step when fourth behind Toormore last month, having previously made a successful return to action in a Listed event at Doncaster's Lincoln meeting.

But he bounced straight back to peak form with a one-length victory under Andrea Atzeni in Newbury's feature event.

With Godolphin pacemaker Barchan weakening a long way from home, last year's runner-up Toormore found himself in front plenty soon enough and was soon claimed by the strong-travelling mare Euro Charline under Ryan Moore.

Marco Botti's charge looked likely to collect entering the final furlong, but having ridden an ultra-patient race, Atzeni delivered Belardo with a powerful late run on the far side of the track and he got up by a length.

The Ger Lyons-trained Endless Drama ran a fantastic race to finish third on his first start since finishing second to Gleneagles in the Irish 2,000 Guineas almost a year ago.

Limato, the 3/1 favourite, travelled well for a long way but did not appear to get home on his first attempt at a mile and finished fourth.

Atzeni said: "The last time I sat on him was the Dewhurst - he's a good horse on his day and it's a pleasure to be back on him. I remember when I first sat on him as a two-year-old I told Roger he was the fastest I'd sat on.

"They went quick, he half-fell out of the stalls, but that's him and he travelled brilliantly throughout the race and picked up when he got daylight.

"It's just on the easy side of good and probably at his very best he just needs a bit of cut."

He added of his renewed association this year with the Varian yard: "Roger is a great boss and we work well together, there's a great team at home and I'm very lucky to work with him."

Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes
(British Champions Series) (Group 1)
£350,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m, Class 1
12 ran
Going: Good, Good to Soft in places