Ombudsman gears up for Juddmonte International

YORK – Trainers John and Thady Gosden’s top-class performer Ombudsman took another step along the road to defending his Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes (2,000m) crown when stretching out on the Newmarket’s July course on Aug 7.

The striking five-year-old has dined at the top table over middle distances for a number of seasons now, and will look to add another Group 1 to his already glistening CV when he lines up in York’s Group 1 feature worth £1.5 million (S$2.6 million) on Aug 19.

With regular partner William Buick away and currently serving an eight-day suspension, Ombudsman was handled by regular work rider Gary Forster as he breezed 1,500m alongside his usual lead horse.

John, father of Thady, was pleased with his gallop before his upcoming assignment.

“He went with his normal lead horse, and they went a nice pace, just seven and a half furlongs,” he said.

“We were happy with that. He hasn’t been on the grass since Ascot, so it’s nice to be able to come down here and do a good bit of work.

“We needed to get him back on the grass and there’s no chance of doing it anywhere else at the moment. It was a nice normal, solid piece of work to build up towards York.

“He’s an absolute pro now and does what he has to do now, he’s not going to do anything flashy – not that I want him to do anything flashy.”

The son of Night Of Thunder tasted defeat to Delacroix in the 2025 Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes (2,000m) before going on to turn the tables at York, where he beat the Aidan O’Brien-trained galloper to second in the Juddmonte International Stakes one month later.

It will once again be another O’Brien-trained three-year-old who stands in Ombudsman’s way.

Recent Sandown Coral-Eclipse Stakes scorer Constitution River is getting ready to do what his stablemate failed to do 12 months ago.

“You must never discount the others,” said Gosden. “Plenty often do that, concentrate on two horses and don’t look at the others.

“You’ve got an exceptional three-year-old (Constitution River) as well as a number of others, and we’ll have one pacemaker and I’m sure Aidan will too.

“I will expect it to be a really truly run race, I don’t imagine it being any other way.

“The race last year got a little bit muddled because the effective pacemaker was a Japanese jockey who had never ridden at York before.

“(Jockey) Rab (Havlin) was ignored on his horse, but he went a good pace and still finished third.

“I don’t see them letting the pacemakers go 25 lengths in front this time.

“Our fellow quickened up really well last year and quickened away from the rest, but I imagine it will be a more conventional race this year – who knows, you never know until the stalls open.”

Having started his campaign in the Group 1 Dubai Turf (1,800m) at Meydan back in March, Ombudsman avoided a potential earlier clash against the Classic generation at Sandown after connections opted to bypass it.

The Godolphin-owned galloper – who won the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes (2,000m) two starts ago at Sandown before taking out the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2,000m) at Ascot last time – is now set to head to York a fresher horse as he continues to step up his preparations.

“He started training at the end of December, so he’s been in full training during the winter in order to run in the Dubai Turf,” said Gosden senior.

“It was the 40th anniversary of the Dubai World Cup and it was important that he was there.

“Then we let him down, and you bring him back up for a run at Sandown (Brigadier Gerard Stakes) where he wasn’t tuned up, then he goes to Ascot (Prince Of Wales’s Stakes) and with the autumn in mind, we just let him down again before building him back up for the Juddmonte.

“He was very impressive at Ascot. It was an evenly run race and he flew off the bend.

“The pacemakers did a very nice job, they joined each other on the bend and got well past the two before the race took place in the straight.

“All being well, we’ll see what the autumn holds for him. He’s going to have effectively been training on and off throughout the whole year.

“We’ll see how we are at the end of the year. There’s the Champion Stakes, Breeders’ Cup and all kinds of possibilities at the end of the year.” RACING AND SPORTS