Talk Of New York got his career firmly back on track with a smooth success in the Group Two Betway Joel Stakes at Newmarket.
A Listed winner at Sandown in May, he finished third behind Bow Echo and Gstaad in the St James's Palace Stakes. However with his sights lowered at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, he was beaten at 2/5 by Shayem.
But he never looked in danger of defeat on the Rowley Mile, travelling strongly throughout in the group of three stands' side and drawing a widening four-and-a-half lengths clear of The Lost King (11/2) upon meeting the rising ground.
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
Trainer Charlie Appleby said: “What he achieved in the St James’s Palace Stakes he had to come here with confidence. You have got to put a line through Goodwood. It was just one of those days, and we have been there before. His preparation coming here looked good. It helped that he won here in the spring. We always like to use the excuse of the dip if they get beat, but I would have struggled to use that today.
“There was no worry when they split into two groups as we knew there was also pace near us with Audience being there. Once he switched off straight away I was always happy. He has not been more of a challenge than we thought, but he has been a challenge from day one. What I loved to see today is how he has matured into the racehorse that we have seen today and hopefully he will progress.
“I think he is finishing the season in the right way and our mindset has always been about next year. He is not in at Ascot, but you could take a look at it if you wanted to. I’m not going to say yes, but as you say you have got that supplementary stage to allow yourself to have a go at it.
“I think a bit of ease in the ground won’t do him any harm as he is a decent sized horse that hits the ground. He is a horse that I’m very much working back from next year’s Breeders’ Cup. Whether he can achieve what Notable Speech has done, he has got a big mountain to climb, but he is going the right way now.”
William Buick added: “It was good. He is a horse that has a big reputation. When it is a small field like that it is always frustrating when they split into two groups, but I was always near Audience, and he was my pace angle.
“Rab is a great judge of pace so I knew I was pretty safe in behind him. It was a good performance and he is probably now the finished article. We all knew what happened at Goodwood, but today was certainly a performance where he put it all together. He is a horse that has got a lot of energy. He just needed to do things in the right way, and the right manner, and he is now doing that.”
Fort knocks on Dubai door
Fortitudine further enhanced his growing reputation when successfully taking a step up class in his stride to maintain his unbeaten record in the Betway Godolphin Stakes.
Arriving on the back of two wins on the all-weather, the gelded son of Dubawi, who is a full brother to multiple Grade One winner Rebel’s Romance, added to those victories when securing a front running success on his Listed debut.
Controlling matters from the word go, the 15/8 favourite never looked in any real danger of being passed by any of his three rivals.
With both stablemate Castlemont and the four-timer seeking Kokbastau waving the white flag it was left to Archers Bay to throw down the final challenge to the market leader.
And although he put up a fight for a few strides, he could never quite get on terms before Fortitudine pulled out more close to the line to score by a length to give both Appleby and Buick their second winners on the card.
Appleby said: “What he is happy doing is going out and galloping. The plan was to go out today and try and make the running, which we did.
“What I was impressed with was that when they came to him half a mile out he lowered and quickened again. If anything I did think he quickened twice to be honest with you.
“We are all very relaxed about this horse as he keeps on going out and doing it for us. I give full credit to his team at home as he is down in a small little yard as he is not the biggest and robust horse as he likes that small bit of attention.
“If there is one thing in his bag is that he can go a gallop, and maintain it.”
And a trip to Dubai looks likely to be next in store for Fortitudine, with Appleby earmarking the Dubai City Of Gold as a possible target early next year.
He added: “I would say we will put him away now and maybe take him to Dubai to look at something like the City Of Gold over the slick mile and a half there. His brother enjoyed it out there and did so well.
“Rebel’s was a proper solid mile and a half horse and I think he is a solid mile and a half horse. We had nothing in the back of our mind with him, but he has stepped up every time and got the job done.
“Going down to post today he was a bit more on it so we will take him out of the heat and then train away with him and see where we get.”
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsMore from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
