International super-sire Galileo continued his Gr1 dominance when his 4yo son Ulysses scraped home to win the Gr1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes run over 2000m at Sandown Park on Saturday.
An elated Jim Crowley returns on Ulysses after a heart-stopping win
Ulysses, who is out of the Kingmambo mare, Light Shift, had run third behind Highland Reel in the Gr1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes last month, and came out fit for a big effort.
With a number of Galileo sons at stud in South Africa, including multiple graded winner, Global View, Gr1 Racing Post Trophy winner, Kingsbarns, Gr1 Ranvet Stakes winner, The United States and Gr3 winner, Flying The Flag, his progeny’s success is followed closely by our breeders.
For trainer Sir Michael Stoute it was a sixth Coral-Eclipse Stakes triumph as Ulysses edged Barney Roy in an epic finish.
Thumbs up from Jim Crowley in a Dubai file pic (photo: Andrew Watkins)
The result was especially sweet for winning jockey Jim Crowley, who classed the success as his biggest win. He was surprisingly replaced on better-fancied contender Eminent – which finished fifth – during the week. Crowley was aboard when Ulysses ran third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last month.
“I was just delighted to get back on this horse after finishing third aboard him at Royal Ascot,” said Crowley after his Sandown victory.
“We learnt a little about each other that day and this was a fantastic performance.”
Stoute said he had to wait before celebrating.
“A lot of people congratulated me and said ‘well done, well done’, but I said ‘let’s just hold on’,” he added.
“I just felt he was holding on, holding on, but I was watching from a poor angle and I just didn’t know.”
Jockey Silvestre de Sousa, who rode Eminent, and Derby-winning jockey Padraig Beggy, who was on board Taj Mahal, which finished last, picked up two and eight-day bans respectively for careless riding.
As if that were not enough, James Doyle, the rider of narrow runner-up Barney Roy, used his whip above the permitted level and was referred to the Head Office of the British Horseracing Authority.
His misdemeanour warranted a suspension of between two and six days, but he can expect much more under the totting up procedure as this was his fifth such suspension within the previous six months.
Meanwhile, winning trainer Stoute was fined £1,000 as the stewards ruled Ulysses had entered the parade ring after the signal to mount had been given.
