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Third time's the charm, it seems, for Battaash. After enduring two woeful runs previously, the son of Dark Angel finally landed the Group 1 Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes on Friday afternoon.
At a windy but pleasant Yorkshire Racecourse on the third day of the Ebor Festival, Battaash, saddled by Charles Hills, admonished the demons of 2017 and 2018.
And he did it some style too, with the Bay Gelding, owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Minister of Finance, annihilating the rest of the 10 runners.
The mount of Jim Crowley, Battaash won by a staggering 3 ¾ lengths over Soldier's Call. And he topped it off by putting the course record to shade.
Battash showed amazing turn of foot and rocketed past his rivals to clock 55.90 seconds, over the five furlongs. It further reinforced his credentials as the new 'King of Speed,' a title that he so proudly wears now since Godolphin's Blue Point has been put to stud.
Incidentally, the previous mark of 56.16 seconds set in 1990 was by Dayjur, also owned by Sheikh Hamdan. It was Sheikh Hamdan's second success in the race and this win comes on the back of Battaash's historic hat-trick in the Group 2 King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood earlier this month.
Battaash had finished fourth over the past two seasons, with dogs barking at the start, proving to be a distraction last year.
And the evening got even better for Sheikh Hamdan, with Crowley partnering Roger Varian to guide Molatham to victory in the British Stallions Studs Convivial Maiden Stakes. Godolphin's Dubai Mirage, the two-year-old Dubawi colt, finished third in the race. Dubai Mirage was trained by Saeed bin Suroor and was the ride of Oisin Murphy.
"Fantastic," Hills told Racing TV.
"All the chat saying he doesn't like York and he's broken the track record, and that's Dayjur's track record as well. He was so cool and calm. It was a good decision to keep him at home last night. He loves his stable at home and it's nice to keep a routine with him," he added.
And Hills couldn't stop gushing about Battaash. "I was really pleased with the draw and Jim gave him an absolute peach of a ride. He got a lovely tow in there. This is some horse, he's seriously fast," said Hills.
With such a kind of performance, Hills reckoned sky's the limit for his charge.
"He's obviously been gelded so we can come back here again next year. I'd love to go to Ireland (Flying Five at the Curragh) with him in a few weeks and then hopefully go to France and why not the Breeder's Cup. I'll have to speak to the owner," revealed Hills.
james@khaleejtimes.com
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