Zahra Drops Whip But Horse Responds
Despite jockey Mark Zahra dropping his whip entering the final furlong, Docklands found plenty for pressure to deny Rosallion by a nose and make amends for an unlucky defeat at Epsom. Runner-up Rosallion, winner of the Gr.1 St James's Palace Stakes last year, took a nice step forward from his third in the Gr.1 Lockinge Stakes. Cairo outran his odds in third for Alice Haynes, just edging out the unlucky Notable Speech. Eustace said "I have lost my voice, I am afraid; that was pretty sweet. It was tough watching, and the photo was tough. I wasn't happy with the pace early on; Docklands did his usual thing, just stepped slow and I was cursing him to be honest, but he is just an absolute star. "He has been an absolute legend for us and, if ever there was a track where you'd want a horse that's a specialist, it's here because it is the best racing. At about the furlong marker, I thought Rosallion was really coming at us, but God he was so brave that last furlong."
Connections Rewarded For Keeping Star Performer
Eustace praised his team and owners Terry Henderson and OTI. "It sounds boring but the work and the effort that everyone at home puts into our horses, that is the reason we are here and I can't thank them enough. More importantly, I can't thank Terry and OTI enough. They got offered a huge amount of money after he won the Britannia, but they wanted to enjoy a good racehorse and roll the dice, and thankfully it has paid off." Zahra said "I was so scared about the whip rules, I thought it would just be easier to throw it away at the 200 metres! It was a very slow speed and I just crept as much as I could. I got room at the right time and Docklands burst through and kept responding, kept responding."
