Ombudsman shows star quality with sizzling Prince of Wales’s display

Successful on each of his first four starts last season, including a Group Three win in France, John and Thady Gosden’s colt met with defeat for the first time when second to Almaqam on his return to action in last month’s Brigadier Gerard at Sandown.

The Godolphin-owned four-year-old faced a further hike in class for this Group One feature, but after being settled well off the strong early pace by William Buick, he engaged overdrive once in the clear halfway up the straight and readily picked off the gallant Anmaat to win by two lengths going away.

See The Fire was third, another two and a half lengths behind the 7-1 winner, but Aidan O’Brien’s Los Angeles, the 13-8 favourite, faded into fifth place.

Gosden senior, celebrating his 70th Royal Ascot winner, said: “He’s a special horse and it’s just a question of an owner giving you the time to let them mature and get there.

“He’s got a turn of foot and he (Buick) knew it, it was a matter of getting out, but I did notice when he finally got daylight there was a furlong to go.”

He went on: “It’s a question of, when you get to the straight, whether you get the luck. He wasn’t in a position where he could swing round the field, it was more of a case of waiting for the gap.

“He was very patient. I knew when there was a gap at the furlong pole that this horse has an extraordinary turn of foot – he was patient and he was rewarded.

“When we bought him he was an immature horse, he didn’t run as a two-year-old and as a three-year-old we brought him on and then put him away. He’s horse who is now properly grown and developed as a four-year-old.

“He’s a mile-and-a-quarter horse, he’s got a wonderful turn of foot as you saw and I think we’ll play to that strength. As far as I’m concerned he’s done nothing but grow in stature.

“He is a horse that because he hasn’t over-raced this year, he could be a horse you could look at the Eclipse.

“That wouldn’t be my choice (to run him against Field Of Gold).”

Thady Gosden added: “When William found a gap he asked him to go through it and he was very quick.

“The Eclipse looks like the natural step to take. It was a top-class field today, it was the most elite field of the week as it often is and he showed what he was capable of there.

“It wasn’t a huge field but it was highly elite, as you’d expect at this meeting. He certainly came up good.”

Buick was noticeably jubilant on passing the line, after an opening day that had seen high-profile reverses for Notable Speech and Ruling Court.

He said: “This place tames lions. It’s so special to win here because it’s so tough, everyone comes here in great form and everyone is doing their very best of course.

“They went a hard gallop. I was always going to have to ride for a bit of luck and he quickened instantly. I thought he was impressive.

“I think that was a taste of what’s to come for sure. He’s got low miles on the clock, he’s an exciting horse.”