Sent off the prohibitive favorite coming off a strengthening break since winning the G1 Irish Derby at The Curragh June 27, Jack Hobbs fully justified those odds when making light work of this prep for the Oct. 4 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. While he has always exuded the kind of class required for that Longchamp pinnacle, the bay exhibited a swagger in this warm-up which suggests he will be a major force whatever the opposition there. Traveling with purpose settled in a close-up second early by William Buick, he began to stamp his dominion over his exposed older rivals when striding to the front at the quarter pole and was in hand all the way to the line where the outsider Sweeping Up gave best chase from the solid yardstick Arab Dawn. “I hadn't done a lot of work with him and he was fresh down to the start, but in the race William managed to switch him off and get him relaxed and that is important,” trainer John Gosden explained. “There's no reason why we won't go to France and he has won well today. We were happy to get a nice prep race at home, rather than traveling over to France [for the G2 Prix Niel] and then traveling over again. I think he is an improving horse and like his father he will get better at four and five, there is no reason he won't improve with age.”
Saturday, Kempton, Britain
TOTESCOOP6 SEPTEMBER S.-G3, £62,000, KEM, 9-5, 3yo/up, 12f (AWT), 2:35.01,.
1–JACK HOBBS (GB), 129, c, 3, by Halling
1st Dam: Swain's Gold, by Swain (Ire)
2nd Dam: Golden Pond (Ire), by Don't Forget Me (Ire)
3rd Dam: Golden Bloom (Ire), by Main Reef (GB)
(60,000gns Ylg '13 TAOCT). O-Godolphin & Partners; B-Minster Stud (GB); T-John Gosden; J-William Buick. £35,160. Lifetime Record: 6-4-2-0, $1,436,603. *1/2 to Niceofyoutotellme (GB) (Hernando {Fr}), GSP-Eng, $140,172. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sweeping Up (GB), 128, f, 4, Sea the Stars (Ire)–Farfala (Fr), by Linamix (Fr). O-Ben & Sir Martyn Arbib; B-Arbib Bloodstock Partnership (GB); T-Hugh Morrison. £13,330.
3–Arab Dawn (GB), 131, g, 4, Dalakhani (Ire)–Victoire Celebre, by Stravinsky. (62,000gns Ylg '12 TAOCT). O-Eason, Kerr-Dineen, Hughes, Edwards-Jones; B-Fittocks Stud (GB); T-Hugh Morrison. £6,671.
Margins: 3 1/4, 3/4, 1. Odds: 0.20, 66.00, 16.00.
Also Ran: Mutatis Mutandis (Ire), Fire Fighting (Ire), Niceofyoutotellme (GB), Aussie Reigns (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the brisnet.com PPs. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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