Graham Cunningham on Notable Speech's Boyle Sports Lockinge win

Explosive Notable speaks for himself as Appleby roars back to the big time

A chilly Friday Berkshire evening in mid-May and my biggest bet of the Flat season so far has just been pulled up at York.

The radio weatherwoman chuckles as she says the overnight temperature will drop to zero and the curry at Tripadvisor’s ‘best Indian in Newbs’ isn’t that hot, either.

Still, it’s been a canny week for assorted monarchs.

Charles and Camilla surely opened a bottle to mark their Friday treble, while the King of the North is currently planting his red flag in my hometown constituency next door to Haydock Park.

The King’s Speech seems like a suitable theme for such a significant day, but NOTABLE SPEECH finds his voice again in the BOYLE Sports Lockinge Stakes to confirm that reports of Charlie Appleby’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Godolphin’s main trainer arrives at The Racecourse, Newbury – sorry, Newbury – to join a lively crowd enjoying multiple beverage options and an Alcohol Free Zone in the Berkshire Stand that may or may not be named after Andrew Balding’s 2021 Fred Darling winner.

Balding duly wins the opener with the admirable KALPANA, who will be a key player if she returns to Ascot without a G1 penalty in the G2 Hardwicke Stakes, while Brian Meehan opens his 2026 account with Esna in the Fillies’ Trial and gives a knowing smile as he accounts for his quiet spell by saying “you have to keep them interested.”

The roars from well refreshed Celtic fans can be heard all the way from Glasgow as Song Of The Clyde shades a good scrap with Albert Einstein in the Carnarvon, but the abiding moment of another absorbing World Pool day comes at a little after 2.35 as a strongly-run Lockinge comes to the boil.

The Lion In Winter tracks his pacemaker Mississippi River only to falter with Damysus when things get tough, while fellow flashy chestnut Zeus Olympios loses the battle for second to the upwardly mobile More Thunder.

But a destructive turn of foot is what separates the hawks from the pigeons at elite level and Notable Speech - with a Guineas, a Sussex Stakes and a Breeders’ Cup Mile on a colourful dance card – relishes the searching pace and rewards a major G1 gamble with a surge that proves all too much for the new wave of milers to cope with.

Buick reacts to Godolphin’s record tenth Lockinge win in his usual composed manner, hailing his partner’s “explosive” finish and describing him as “an absolutely top-class miler.”

Appleby echoes those comments and borrows a sheet from the Farage playbook in conversation with Matt ‘Chappers’ Chapman, asking himself the key question of “does he need a lead horse?” before responding with a slightly less than convincing “I don’t think so.”

Perhaps the bold Charles is still thinking of what happened in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland last month, where intended pacemaker Aomori City missed the break badly before getting in the way of Notable Speech repeatedly in a manner that Buick describes as “a nightmare from start to finish.”

A tepid early gallop didn’t seem to help the 2024 Guineas hero when he finished fourth behind Docklands in last year’s Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

King Charles will be on hand when the powerfully built son of Dubawi tries to make amends on June 16th, while King Burnham of the North could meet his date with political destiny two days later if the good folk of Makerfield flock to the polls.

And so a historic stage is gradually being set both on the course and off it.

When Andy met Charlie could be the theme in the following weeks if Britain’s beleaguered government fashions the bizarre political coronation it seems to be searching for.

But the King’s Speech is well worth a second look this summer.

And the chance of another Notable Speech on day one of the big show would surely be increased by finding the right stablemate to set a right royal gallop straight from the off.

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