Trawlerman won the Lonsdale Cup at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York | report and free replay

The popular seven-year-old finished fifth in Dubai in April before returning to these shores in the Henry II Stakes at Sandown. Trawlerman duly won that contest before denying Illinois in a thrilling renewal of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

Dropped to Group 2 company, Trawlerman had to concede upwards of 3 lb to his five rivals in the two mile contest.

There was little change to the order through the first half of the race with Shackleton taking them along from Trawlerman who was followed by stablemate Sweet William and Al Qareem.

The temp began to quicken as they entered the last mile and eventual third Al Nayyir was the first to be niggled along. On straightening up, Wayne Lordan was soon asking Shackleton to up his game but he couldn't go with Trawlerman who took up the running a fair way from home.

The field shunned the far side, racing down the middle of the straight and gradually edging towards the stands.

The tough Trawlerman kept pouring it on in front but the smooth travelling Sweet William got to his quarters on the inside as did Al Nayyir on his outside but as the race entered deep into stamina sapping territory, their challenges faded as Trawlerman kept on galloping.

Sweet William completed a good day for John and Thady Gosden in finishing a length and a quarter second, over four lengths clear of the field.

Buick told Racing TV: "We thought that they might want to make use of Shackleton so we weren't surprised with the scenario. Trawlerman can do it himself and he can follow so as long as he's on an even keel, he's happy. John reminded me that he was down half a mile in trip from the Gold Cup so let's make them come to him.

"He's just a super horse. He goes through the gears from passing the four and he's as strong at the line as what he is at the two pole. You always feel like you're in control, he always gives you more, and every time I've ridden him - even when he's been beaten - he always feels like he's got more.

"He was clear second best behind Kyprios last year, that takes a bit of doing; now he's the kid on the block and it's a privilege to have him. We've probably got more confidence in how we approach him in these races and we're probably playing to his strengths better than what we did last year but he hasn't got Kyprios to deal with this year. There will be other horses coming through, there always is, but he ran to a very high level last year and is doing so again this year."

Gosden senior commented: "You go 15 rounds with Trawlerman and you know you've been 15 rounds, he just grinds you into the ground.

"The three-year-old was getting a stone in weight and made it a test of stamina and they made a lovely race of it together. When I saw Wayne just go to settle the pace a bit, William said no, we keep up the same tempo thank you, down the back into the far bend.

"It was an exciting race. Then the old clever boy Sweet William comes late and then he's waiting to challenge, William goes, and I'm going to tease Rab [Havlin] and tell him he went too soon.

"You have a great race between two proper Cup horses. For the crowd it's wonderful and the Lonsdale is a lovely race. I'm a great believer in the Cup races, we need them as an integral part of the programme and people enjoy them. We've got to be careful we wind up with no staying horses."

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