Notable Speech Dazzles In The City Of York, BC Mile Next

Heading to Saturday's G1 Sky Bet City Of York Stakes with little to prove, Godolphin's Notable Speech (Dubawi) added another string to his bow with a sixth top-level triumph tackling this seven-furlong trip for the first time.

Always comfortable tracking his target Marvelman (Invincible Spirit) under William Buick, the 9-4 favourite swooped approaching the furlong pole and drew away impressively to score by 2 3/4 lengths from Lake Forest (No Nay Never), who denied Marvelman by a short head.

“He's come into his own over the last couple of weeks,” Charlie Appleby explained. “With the ground as it is, we decided to ride him more prominently than usual but Will [Buick] knows the horse inside out and once I could see that he hadn't thrown the kitchen sink at him, there was never going to be a horse that could pick him up. What's lovely is that he's shown his versatility on different ground and you might get that question mark at Keeneland. He will go straight there now.”

This was Notable Speech's first attempt on ground easier than good since 2024 when disappointing in the Prix du Moulin, but it is a measure of his maturity that he was able to conjure his trademark explosive speed to settle matters quickly. Better than ever at five, he has had excuses each time he has met with a reversal with Ascot plainly not a track with which he is enamoured and it will clearly take a huge performance to take him down in his title defence at Keeneland.

“I get a bit more emotional with these older horses and he fully deserved that,” Appleby added. “When he quickens, he's got a devastating turn of foot and we thought if we could get over to the stands' side we'd find a fresher strip of ground. His versatility gives us the confidence going into the Breeders' Cup–it might be lovely quick ground at Keeneland or it could be autumnal.”

Notable Speech will be retired at the end of the year and his trainer believes he will prove a valuable addition to the Darley stallion roster. “I applaud these horses that win at two and three and are still doing it at four and five–I feel you've really got to take your hat off to them as they've shown their durability and, hopefully, he will take that into his stud career,” he said. “One thing people like nowadays is a bit of speed and one thing that horse doesn't lack is pace and a turn of foot.”

William Haggas said of Lake Forest, “We could have a rematch in the Breeders' Cup Mile, we'll certainly look at it, but the winner has been there before and done it. We haven't been round a corner in this country before today I don't think.”

“I don't know what we'll do next, as he's a Group 2 winner which ties you a bit,” he added. “He ran a good race, he just had no cover throughout. He's a useful horse and he'll land on one of these one day.”

Connections of Marvelman are considering dropping back in trip now. “We probably needed a bit more rain and we'd have got a bit closer–if the race was on Wednesday that would have suited us,” owner Charlie Bond said. “He's run a cracker, he'd been doing some unbelievable work at home and Andrew [Balding] was confident he'd be placed.”

“The question now is if we drop back to six furlongs, as he has such a high cruising speed,” he added. “We'll probably follow the weather. Haydock and the Sprint Cup comes into it and we obviously won the Prix de la Foret last year with a horse who finished third in this race. It's the first time since we bought him that he's actually had give in the ground and it's only good ground today.”

Six Group 1s!

Notable Speech flies on his first start at 7f and proves all class in the £600,000 @SkyBet City Of York Stakes @yorkracecourse @WilliamBuickX | @godolphin pic.twitter.com/uuAe1i3RH3

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 22, 2026

Pedigree Notes
Notable Speech, who completed a double for his potent sire at York on the afternoon, is the first foal out of the UAE Oaks runner-up Swift Rose (Invincible Spirit) who is a half-sister to the Natalma Stakes and Fred Darling winner Wild Beauty (Frankel) and Dubawi's Burj Nahaar winner Desert Wisdom. The listed-winning and dual group-placed second dam Tulips (Pivotal) is a granddaughter of the Haydock Sprint Cup and Prix Maurice de Gheest heroine Cherokee Rose (Dancing Brave), who is also the ancestress of the Eclipse Stakes hero Mukhadram (Shamardal) and the Challenge Stakes-winning sire Cable Bay, who shares Invincible Spirit as a sire with Swift Rose. Her unraced 2-year-old is a full-sister to Notable Speech.

Saturday, York, Britain
SKY BET CITY OF YORK STAKES-G1, £600,000, York, 8-22, 3yo/up, 7fT, 1:24.91, g/s.
1–NOTABLE SPEECH (GB), 134, h, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
                1st Dam: Swift Rose (Ire) (GSP-UAE), by Invincible Spirit (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Tulips (Ire), by Pivotal (GB)
                3rd Dam: Hint Of Spring (GB), by Seeking the Gold
TDN Rising Star. O/B-Godolphin; T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick. £340,260. Lifetime Record: GISW-US & Can, G1SP-Fr, 18-9-1-1, $3,995,726. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Lake Forest (GB), 134, g, 5, No Nay Never–Lady Aquitaine, by El Prado (Ire). (130,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-Tony Bloom & Ian McAleavy; B-Sahara Group Holdings; T-William Haggas. £129,000.
3–Marvelman (Ire), 134, c, 4, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Varamini (Fr), by Siyouni (Fr). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (140,000gns Ylg '23 TATOCT). O-Bond Thoroughbred Ltd; B-Gigginstown House Stud; T-Andrew Balding. £64,560.
Margins: 2 3/4, SHD, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.25, 6.00, 18.00.
Also Ran: Ten Bob Tony (Ire), Zavateri (Ire), Puerto Rico (Ire), Rogue Diplomat (Ire), Paborus (GB), Satono Reve (Jpn), Flora Of Bermuda (Ire), Lifeplan (Ire), Power Blue (Ire), Native Warrior (GB), Powerful Glory (Ire).