Golden Horn blows trumpet ‘the hard way’ as Dettori cracks the whip

Golden Horn entered the pantheon of greats in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park racecourse yesterday but where he rests in the final standings is still to be decided after his fifth career win in as many starts.

Frankie Dettori riding Golden Horn, celebrates, celebrates winning The Coral Eclipse race at the Sandown racecourse. Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images

LONDON // Golden Horn entered the pantheon of greats in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park racecourse yesterday but where he rests in the final standings is still to be decided.

A whiff of an upset crept onto the track when Jamie Spencer on The Grey Gatsby ranged up alongside Frankie Dettori and Golden Horn 600 metres out with the long hill in their sights.

The smell did not go away for another 400 metres as Spencer and Dettori got down to business, with their mounts going stride for much of the distance.

Golden Horn had taken some time to get going when he was an imperious winner of the Derby at Epsom a month ago.

Once Dettori had given his mount a crack with the whip yesterday, the issue was settled and The Grey Gatsby challenge was broken.

There was three-and-a-half lengths at the winning post between the two, with a further four-and-a-half back to Western Hymn and James Doyle.

“He did it the hard way,” Dettori said.

“Jamie did really well as he tried to take me on three [furlongs] out. He eyeballed me and wanted to intimidate me.

“If my horse was weak he could have given in, but he showed what a true champion he is by knuckling down and he then put daylight on him.”

Golden Horn has won all five of his career starts and, having beaten subsequent Irish Derby one-two Jack Hobbs and Storm The Stars in the Derby, the strength of his form is rock solid.

Where Golden Horn goes next is a matter of conjecture, but with owner Sir Anthony Oppenheimer once a sponsor of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at the end of the month the Ascot race may prove irresistible.

“I’d love him to win the King George because of that, but the horse’s interests comes first,” the former president of the De Beers diamond company said. “We’re not at the bottom of him yet.”

Wherever Golden Horn goes next, what will define him will be how he fares if he were to confront two-time Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Treve in the first week of October.

It would be some race and a difficult one for Dettori, who is retained by Treve’s owners Al Shaqab.

In South Africa neither Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid’s Majmu, nor Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa’s Tamaanee could land a blow in the Durban July, which was won by outsider Power King at Greyville Racecourse.

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