Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance Lonsdale Cup
Group 2, York 14:25
£160,000 added,
3yo plus,
2m 56y, Class 1  
Friday 23rd August 2019

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1 Stradivarius 4/9F
2 Dee Ex Bee 3/1
5 Il Paradiso 20/1
4 ran NR: Magic Circle Distances: 1¼l, nse, 16l
Time: 3m 27.06s (fast by 1.44s)

John Gosden's remarkable five-year-old took his winning sequence to nine in his usual gritty, fighting style in the hands of Frankie Dettori.

The 4-9 favourite broke well, but Dee Ex Bee soon went on, with Il Paradiso in third and Falcon Eight bringing up the tail.

Silvestre de Sousa turned up the heat more than five furlongs out on the leader, but Dettori was unconcerned as he kept Stradivarius tucked up within hailing distance of Mark Johnston's charge.

Il Paradiso drew alongside Dee Ex Bee, but all along Stradivarius was in their slipstream, before Dettori switched him to the stands rail and swept to the front a furlong from home.

Gallant though his two closest pursuers were, they were well held and Stradivarius went on to win by a length and a quarter.

Dee Ex Bee was second for the third time running behind his old nemesis, with Aidan O'Brien's Il Paradiso another nose away.

Gosden said: "He's done it on most ground, soft and obviously quick today, they've broken the track record - he's just a cool character, he expresses himself.

"You don't overwork him, he does what he does in a race and once he hits the front and goes a length up he says, 'I've done my job, thank you'.

"Frankie didn't wave (before the line) today because when he did that at Goodwood he thought it was all finished. He'll be a tired horse, but by Sunday morning he'll be rearing on his hind legs, which is his party trick.

"They went sensible before turning it on at the 10-furlong start and there was Aidan's three-year-old with him who we were giving 15lb to.

"He has this weapon of a turn of foot like the great Sagaro and Yeats - if these stayers can get in a rhythm you are not stressing and allied with a burst of speed it disarms the others, it's a great weapon.

Trainers Quotes

Proud owner Bjorn Nielsen said: "I've said before that I started out trying to breed a Derby horse and I've ended up with him, but you couldn't have a horse better than him, even if you won a Derby.

"He's a rare beast, to win what has. He never makes it easy, you never know what he has left. A 3lb penalty is a lot over two miles and Dee Ex Bee gives his all every time, but he comes up trumps every time.

"This year he's a lot stronger, I thought he won the Gold Cup fairly comfortably, and he didn't give us as much of a fright here today as he did last year."

Dettori said: "I know he has a tremendous turn of foot, so I waited and waited - I waited to just before the furlong and said, 'come on son, let's go, let's put this race to bed'.

"You pull him out, he goes and thinks he's done enough and wins by a length. Once I got into the wheels of the leaders, he did the rest.

"He's a good horse - I'm just a passenger."

Johnston said of Dee Ex Bee: "What can you say? He's run a good race again.

"We'll go for the Doncaster Cup next."

O'Brien said of Il Paradiso: "I'm very happy - we're delighted with his run."

"I'm not sure where we'll go next. He's a horse that obviously stays very well and he would have an option of going for the St Leger - we'll see about that, but it's definitely an option."

Paying tribute to Stradivarius, he said: "He's just a great horse, isn't he?"

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Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance Lonsdale Cup
(British Champions Series)
£200,000 added, 3yo plus, 2m 88y, Class 1
4 ran
Going: Good to Firm, Good in places

POS (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (3)      Stradivarius 5 9-6 John Gosden Frankie Dettori 4/9F
2 (4) 1¼ Dee Ex Bee 4 9-3 Mark Johnston Silvestre De Sousa 3/1
3 (5) nse Il Paradiso 3 8-5 A P O'Brien Ryan Moore 20/1
4 (2) 16 Falcon Eight 4 9-3 D K Weld Oisin Murphy
NR 4 (1) 110-39 Magic Circle 7 9-3 Ian Williams NON RUNNER

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