Tattersalls Gold Cup (Group 1)

JOCKEY Tom Marquand couldn’t have hoped for a better first ride in Ireland as he teamed up with the William Haggas-trained Alenquer to come out the right side of a titanic finish to a high quality edition of this race.

Alenquer was one of three members of the eight-runner field who had yet to notch up a victory at this level but his deserved day in the sun arrived as he bested a resurgent High Definition in a cracking finale where the front two emerged with their reputations enhanced.

By his own admission afterwards, Marquand didn’t know his way to the 10-furlong start an hour beforehand but he certainly knew where the winning line was as he galvanised his doughty mount to leave it all out on the track for a narrow success.

High Definition lined up still looking to recapture the promise of that Beresford Stakes triumph in September 2020 but a switch to forcing tactics showed that this one time classic hope has realistic ambitions of making his mark at this level.

Ryan Moore forced a good pace on the 20/1 chance with the result that he had many of his rivals on the stretch turning for home.

At this point Alenquer improved to lead the chase and he closed in gradually on the leader. To his credit High Definition kept finding but for much of the last furlong it seemed as though Marquand’s mount would find a way to the front and in the dying strides last year’s King Edward VII Stakes hero edged ahead.

High Definition was a neck away in second while State Of Rest, chasing a fourth straight Group 1 success in four different countries, was a further neck back in third with Lord North having to settle for fourth.

“It was a very exciting race and he’s a very tough horse who deserved to win a Group 1,” said the trainer’s wife Maureen. “Tom has given him a beautiful ride. We were actually late arriving and Tom said to me please don’t make me go down to the start first as I don’t know the way so we got a lead down there and Tom showed again there that he is a top-class jockey.

Best form

“Alenquer has always been a nice horse but he keeps surprising us. Even though he is a Group 2 winner at a mile-and-a-half his best form is probably at a mile-and-a-quarter as he showed when he was second in the Juddmonte last August. You’d have to say now that this looks his trip and a little ease in the ground is important to him,” concluded Maureen Haggas.

Afterwards a delighted Marquand exclaimed: “He ran a super race in Dubai earlier in the year and we though he’d win a Group 1 at a mile and a half but that he’s done that today is a sign there’s even better to come from him.”

“He’s tough and hardy and that was a great performance. He really had to dig deep and it was a stiff last furlong there. I was always pretty happy through the race because he’s a playful horse it suited to get him racing early.

“He really digs deep as he showed there and this is wonderful for the team at home,” added the rider.