Pinatubo: Unbeaten Godolphin colt wins Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket
- Published
Pinatubo (right) wins the Dewhurst Stakes to maintain the 100% winning start to his career
Charlie Appleby's Pinatubo enhanced his growing reputation with victory in the Group One Dewhurst Stakes over seven furlongs at Newmarket.
The Godolphin colt had a higher rating by Timeform than champion horse Frankel at the same age after winning by nine lengths at The Curragh last month.
And on soft ground, the 1-3 favourite made it six wins out of six by moving clear to win by two lengths.
Meanwhile, 25-1 shot Stratum, ridden by Jason Watson, won the Cesarewitch.
In overcast, drizzly conditions, Aidan O'Brien's Arizona, nine-and-a-quarter lengths behind Pinatubo in third at The Curragh last month, made the running on the inside but William Buick manoeuvred the favourite skilfully through the field in the nine-horse race and took to the front into the final furlong.
"We're all behind this horse and thankfully he's kept the dream alive for the winter and we can have something to talk about," Appleby said.
"The ground was testing out there and it's testament to the horse."
Wichita, supplemented for the race by O'Brien, was four-and-three-quarter lengths back in third.
In the Cesarewitch over two miles and two furlongs, Stratum - 20th in last year's race - was embroiled in a three-way tussle with 50-1 shots Party Playboy and Summer Moon into the final furlong-and-a-half.
The six-year-old edged clear to win by half-a-length as Watson added another notable win to his first UK Group One success on Friday, while Andrew Balding's 11-2 favourite Ranch Hand finished 15th.
Analysis
BBC racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght:
In examining wet conditions compared to the good going he encountered at The Curragh in September, Pinatubo's performance at Newmarket was never likely to be as visually striking as the nine-length romp in Ireland's National Stakes, but he was still impressive.
The colt was forced to dig deep to beat a Royal Ascot winner in Arizona, but he did, and though there were unquestionably a couple of anxious moments, the two-length winning margin was decisive.
What a relief - after the hype around Enable proved misplaced when she was defeated in the Arc, a second such result so soon would have been hard to swallow.