York Racecourse

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Twice Over Gains International Glory
17/08/11

1 Twice Over 11/2
2 Midday 5/2
3 Await The Dawn 8/13F
NR: Roderic O'Connor (IRE)
5 ran Distances: ¾l, 5l, 12l
TIME 2m 14.70s (slow by 7.40s)

Last year's runner-up Twice Over lunged late to deny stablemate Midday in the Juddmonte International at York.

Twice Over
© racing-images.co.uk

Sir Henry Cecil's dual Champion Stakes winner was ridden patiently by Ian Mongan and cruised into contention alongside Midday and odds-on favourite Await The Dawn, as the pacemaking Windsor Palace dropped away.

Await The Dawn was the first to feel the pinch, and Midday looked to be getting the better of the argument heading inside the final furlong, but Twice Over (11-2) finished off his race best to score by three-quarters of a length.

Cecil said: "The Prince has sponsored this race for years and years and never won it before. And I said to him if we didn`t win it today we`d have to wait for Frankel, hopefully, next year. They both deserved to run. If the ground had been a bit faster, Midday might have given Twice Over a closer race.

Midday
© Racehorse Photos

"Tom Queally was on Midday and he`s won six Group Ones on her so I wanted him to stay on her, and Ian Mongan was on Twice Over. I`ve always thought a lot of him. He's my second jockey and is very underrated.

"He`s a very good jockey and if he got better rides he`d be right in the top flight. I`m so pleased for him. He really deserved it."

Mongan, securing the biggest win of his career, said: "It's really special. I would like to thank the Prince (Khalid Abdullah, owner) and Sir Henry for putting faith in me because this is as good as it gets.

"I didn't think they went particularly quick and I think Midday and Twice Over probably had a bit more turn of foot to go by. The way it was looking I thought it might be a dead-heat, but he really stuck it out."

O'Brien said of Await The Dawn: "I don't want to take anything away from the other two, but it has been a while since he ran at Ascot and maybe I should have given him another run or a racecourse gallop.

"America (Breeders' Cup Classic) is still the long-term plan and we'll try and find something in between."

Position	Horse Trainer	Jockey Weight	Starting Price Beaten Distance
1	Twice Over H R A Cecil	I Mongan 9st 5lbs	11 - 2 Winner
2	Midday H R A Cecil	T P Queally 9st 2lbs	5 - 2 3/4 length
3	Await The Dawn A P O'Brien	J P O'Brien 9st 5lbs	8 - 13 5 lengths
4	Zafisio J Hughes	D Holland 9st 5lbs	66 - 1 12 lengths
5	Windsor Palace A P O'Brien	J A Heffernan 9st 5lbs	100 - 1 17 lengths
NonRunner	Roderic O'Connor A P O'Brien	C O'Donoghue 8st 11lbs	-