Delacroix denies Ombudsman in Eclipse thriller

A quality field of six runners went to post for a Group One contest that traditionally gives the Classic generation a first chance to meet their elders and this year’s renewal was no exception, with four three-year-olds taking on two top-class older horses in Ombudsman and Sosie.

Ombudsman was the 6-4 favourite to supplement his brilliant success in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and quickened up to lead inside the final furlong – but having looked to be struggling at the rear of the field early in the straight, Derby disappointment Delacroix (3-1) came with a wet sail under a power-packed Moore drive to get up by a neck.

“It wasn’t the first or the second or the third plan! He began OK, but nobody really wanted to make the running and there was three of us in a line,” Moore told ITV Racing.

“Me and William (Buick, on Ombudsman) wanted the same position and I had to give way. He was on an older, bigger horse so I thought we’d wait and go around.

“They got first run on me and he’s obviously a very good horse with a good turn of foot. He quickened up really well.

“I think 10 furlongs is fine and if anything he could probably run over shorter. He’s a horse we’ve always held in high regard and he was the only horse in this race that hadn’t won a Group One, but he’d threatened to and he’s obviously out of a great racemare (Tepin) and by Dubawi.”

O’Brien said: “Incredible, I thought Ryan was going to make the running on him. Obviously you don’t tell Ryan what to do, but you listen to what he’s saying, so when I saw it all changing I didn’t know what would happen or what to make of it.

“He ended up where he did and it just kept ringing in my mind that during the week Ryan said to me ‘Aidan, I think this horse is a miler’, and I always thought he was a mile-and-a-quarter horse.

“As the race went on that was what was ringing in my head, is he a miler or is he a mile-and-a-quarter horse, but obviously Ryan stuck to his judgement because he kept calm and had one go.

“What he did in the last two furlongs looked very different. It was a very good race, the second horse is a very good horse and when you get a four-year-old rated as high as that, you need a three-year-old that’s a bit different to beat them.

“Ryan said he changed plans four times in the race today. He found himself where he was but he was calm and collected and clinical.”

Paddy Power cut Delacroix’s odds for the Juddmonte International at York to 5-1 from 16-1, with Ombudsman a 4-1 shot and Field Of Gold the 5-4 favourite.

While plans for Delacroix remain up in the air, he looks set to either stick to a mile and a quarter or even drop back in trip.

“He’s hardy so you shouldn’t be afraid to race him, but the lads (owners) will decide what they want to do,” O’Brien added.

“They stacked them up in front today and he came with a deadly run, it was incredible what he did – mind-blowing.

“I don’t think going back to a mile would worry him, but if they decide to keep him at a mile and a quarter I would be delighted.

“When you can relax like that and quicken like that over a mile and a quarter, it’s very potent and a brilliant thing to have up your sleeve.”