Field Of Gold blitzes rivals as Guineas winners fill the first three in St James’s Palace
The serve of wow factor on the first day of the royal meeting came courtesy of Juddmonte’s Field Of Gold when he emulated his sire Kingman (Invincible Spirit) with a superlative victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) which crowned him undisputed champion among three-year-old milers.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained grey is making a habit of emulating Kingman’s 2014 path, with a similar story of an unlucky second placing in the English 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) which both father and son followed with a redeeming win in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh.
Tuesday’s contest was billed as a tantalising rematch between Field Of Gold and his Newmarket conqueror Ruling Court (Justify), with the addition of last-start Poule d’Essai des Poulains (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Henri Matisse (Wootton Bassett) providing a race to savour.
The contest proved just that, though Field Of Gold made it all about himself.
Ridden by Juddmonte’s newly retained jockey Colin Keane, the colt was poised swinging into the straight and what looked a menacing challenge to the leading Officer (Dubawi) quickly proved devastating, with his electric turn of foot putting an immediate gap on his rivals.
Coolmore’s Henri Mattise ran into second approaching the furlong pole but the proverbial bird had flown, with Field Of Gold sealing a three and a half-length win in the Group 1, echoing the two and a quarter-length victory of his John Gosden-trained sire 11 years ago.
Godolphin’s Ruling Court – who had been pulled from the Epsom Derby (Gr 1, 1m 4f) due to ground concerns – ran on for third, making it a trifecta of Classic-winning colts.
“That was a great performance,” John Gosden said post-race.
“Solid pace – Oisin [Murphy] did a nice job doing an even pace [on Windlord] – then he came to the head of the straight and he had a lot of horse and for a second I thought, ‘Whoops, this is Ascot – it climbs all the way to the finish line, and we’ve gone a bit soon’.
“I didn’t watch him, I looked back – you always have to look back for the dangers, and fortunately, none were coming.
“Like father, like son, eh!”
Sent off the 8-11 favourite, Field Of Gold brought his record to five wins from eight starts, his two other defeats coming as a juvenile: on debut last June, and when he followed up Group 3 success with a fourth placing in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagadere (Gr 1, 1400m) on a soft Longchamp track last October.
“He had always impressed as a two-year-old, but he was a big boy and slightly outgrew himself,” Gosden said.
“We ran him in France, a mistake in the end – it wasn’t the ground, he beat the latch, was too free in front, didn’t finish up. We should have run him in the Dewhurst, I regret that.
“Then this year he has been exemplary in everything he’s done. Look, he’s a pleasure to train because he’s a pretty laid-back character, which is very useful.”
Gosden is wary of over-taxing the star, and will consider a freshen-up before mirroring the Kingman route further by lining up in the Sussex Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) at Goodwood next month.
“It was never the plan to go to Ireland, it became the plan, so he’s had a trial, two Guineas and this. It’s a lot of racing and we’re not even beginning to be half-way through the season.
“Maybe freshen and go to the Sussex, something like that, we’ll see. I think if he hadn’t run in Ireland, I would have probably been keen to go to the Eclipse. When they win like that, they make it look easy, but they are taking a lot out of themselves, so I wouldn’t want to be seen as someone trying to run him back in the Eclipse quick off this.
Keane, who has now been abroad for each of Field Of Gold’s Group 1 wins, was notching his first since accepting the Juddmonte job.
“In some degree [it unfolded as he thought],” he said. “I thought we’d be behind Will [Buick, aboard Ruling Court] and Ryan [Moore, Henri Matisse] would be behind us, whereabouts I wasn’t sure exactly but it worked out to some degree and he showed how good he is on the day.
“I’ve been lucky enough to join this team. It’s a very new relationship and to get a horse like him so early on is amazing. I’ve had nothing compared to this in recent years so it’s a very special day.”
Kingman’s first St James’s Palace winner was Palace Pier, who was also trained by John Gosden and shuttled to Darley’s Kelvinside base in 2022 where he covered 97 mares at a fee of $55,000 (inc GST).