Trawlerman saw off the late challenge of stablemate Sweet William to win the opening Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Champions Day.
John & Thady Gosden knew they would be winning the race from a long way out but it wasn't certain with which horse as Sweet William eroded the gap in the final quarter mile.
William Buick had kicked on early on the 5/6 favourite after taking over from Al Qareem to lead with over a mile to go while Rab Havlin bided his time in the rear on Sweet William (a well-backed 5/2 chance).
He did make inroads into the big lead, but Trawlerman was a length and a half ahead of his Clarehaven companion at the line in an official winning time of 3m 22.29 that indicates fast ground.
It was the 11th victory of the son of Golden Horn's career and his second Group 1 on the back of his Ascot Gold Cup success at Royal Ascot in June.
Gosden was winning the race for the third time in 11 years after Flying Officer and Stradivarius, this the first time the Long Distance Cup has been run as a Group 1 after being upgraded this year.
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A delighted John Gosden said afterwards: “I think he was at his imperious best in the Gold Cup. I think today he might not have totally been at his best, but Sweet William ran a blinder. They are two lovely horses that are seven and six. They are great staying horses and they are part of the family at home.
“I think he was led the other day in the Lonsdale at York, but when they go to take a pull and take a breather, he is like ‘no, we are running two miles at a proper gallop, we are not fiddling with it. As soon as that happened you saw William say take you on coming into the straight.
“He probably idled a bit, but on the other hand the other horse was running about. It was a great performance from both of them.
“He (Sweet William) has won the Doncaster Cup two years running and the crowd had a hell of a roar as they saw the pink colours coming and they thought my God he is going to get Trawlerman. They are two lovely horses and it was a great start to the day.
“There was a moment it looked like (Sweet William was going to win), but it didn’t happen. At the furlong pole I thought he might get him.
“They are two fabulous horses and we will put them away until next year and they will both get a run in before the Gold Cup and that will be the plan.
“He is a relentless galloper and I couldn’t be more thrilled with him. It is late in the year for him as he has been on the go for a long time. It was a great performance and it is a pleasure to race here on good ground. The time of that race was pretty smart. It is wonderful to have Champions Day on good ground.”
'I thought this was his day'
Havlin said of the runner-up: “We tried to ease off him after Doncaster, but we had to kick on with him again. Past the two furlong pole I thought this was his day, but he just got a bit tired inside the last furlong.
“That was one of his best runs ever. It was probably actually a career best. He is my favourite horse of all time. He is quirky, but he is so consistent.
"There are not many horses that are as consistent as him. He is a great horse to ride.”
Karl Burke, trainer of the third home Al Qareem, said: “We were chancing our arm with only a few runners in the race to try and pick up some prize money and he has done all of that. He is an absolute superstar.
“We were within ten lengths off the two best stayers in Europe, if not the world. All credit to him as we know it isn’t his trip, but we were keen to give it a go and he hasn’t let us down.
“He has had a long season. He is in a race in France in a couple of weeks time, but I would say he has done enough this year and that we will look after him for next year.”
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