Vicki Gibbins reflects on the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury

Vicki Gibbins with her take from Newbury on Saturday

Saturday racing report: Vicki Gibbins verdict from Newbury

Horse Racing

Sat September 19, 2026 · 2h ago

Our columnist reports from Saturday's meeting at Newbury where nobody is quite where you expect them to be.

It’s raining in the North.

A delegation dejectedly set out to inspect the track at Ayr, a waterproof-clad boot ankle-deep in standing water. Eight-and-a-half millimetres has fallen between ten and eleven o’clock, which is apparently a lot. Enough to make the ground heavy and enough to turn the furlong-and-a-half marker into a temporary pond. It’s good weather for ducks but not for handicap sprinters.

Saffie Osborne and Paul Mulrennan are amongst those inspecting the track at Ayr

In the South, it’s too quick.

There’s a deluge of non-runners at Newbury and they keep coming as jockeys report back after the first. They’re never happy, these trainers.

Except Karl Burke.

The Middleham-based handler has made the pilgrimage south for the Dubai Duty Free International Weekend, despite a host of runners at Ayr and a rogue entrant in France.

“I thought you’d be at Ayr,” I say.

“No, I’m here,” beams Karl, minutes before Leading Dancer out-runs mammoth odds to finish second in the Listed Dubai Duty Free Stakes on Friday.

Miss Yechance wins the opener at Newbury

Miss Yechance wouldn’t have liked it at Ayr. She started the year in Dubai and looks like a girl who eats Caesar salads and drinks Diet Coke in between her gym sessions.

She proves small but mighty. Facing a field of established Group performers, the filly easily disposes of her rivals to win at 12/1 in the Group 3 Dubai International Airport World Trophy Stakes – giving jockey Jack Nicholls a first Group victory.

“She’s fast and she was actually faster than the Nunthorpe winner [Bacio] at York,” says Karl, with one eye on the live feed for Chantilly. “She’s obviously very quick and Jack gets a great tune out of her as well. It was his first ride in a Group race so it’s great for him.

“She’s done nothing but improve physically since she arrived in May. She arrived early with the remit to run at Ascot but she looked very ropey when she arrived and was suffering with a few ulcers.

“I didn’t want to run her at Ascot and she didn’t look very well as we hadn’t done much work with her, but she ran a blinder and only got tired in the last 100 yards. She was splitting the American horses for a lot of the race.

“I knew then she was a filly who doesn’t need much work and she’s as hard as nails, just eats and drinks. The owners are very keen to head back out to Dubai for the winter and I imagine that plan won’t change.”

I don’t blame them.

Ayr passes a second inspection with a revised timetable and drying ground. It’s finally stopped raining in Scotland and they’ve managed to suck all the standing water out of the ground. With a giant hoover, presumably.

William Buick returns in triumph on Nabati

It’s not raining in Newbury either and the Mill Reef Stakes continues as planned, with the declared number of runners.

Michael Dods isn’t here. Arapaho Gold doesn’t win.

Nabati wins. Charlie Appleby isn’t here.

Jane Chapple-Hyam wins the following Dubai Duty Free Handicap Stakes. She isn’t here either but offers some variation by being in Sweden rather than Newmarket. I wonder what she thinks of the ground in Stockholm.

On the big screen that towers over the Newbury parade ring, we watch the Ayr Gold Cup go off at the scheduled post time and Pellitory ploughing through the mud for victory, inspections forgotten.

Trainer David O’Meara is there, lifting the trophy. Right where he should be.