Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby completed a hat-trick of Dewhurst Stakes wins as Shadow Of Light joined Native Trail and Pinatubo on the race’s roll of honour on Saturday at Newmarket.
The colt, by Lope De Vega, came into the race on the back of a Group 1 victory in the Middle Park Stakes on the same track a couple of weeks earlier. The extra furlong trip in the Dewhurst proved no barrier with Shadow Of Light staying on well in the final 200 yards to get the better of Aidan O’Brien’s Expanded by a neck on the line with Appleby’s second string, Ancient Truth, a neck farther back in third.
In the race the field split into two distinct groups, Ryan Moore on Expanded making his own running on the stand side while Shadow Of Light tracked Seagulls Eleven on the far side of the track.
As they approached the two furlong pole Moore urged his mount with James Doyle, who had tracked him on Ancient Truth, challenging him. The stands side pair looked to have the upper hand as they entered the closing stages but Buick conjured a run from Shadow Of Light who drifted towards the centre of the track and seemed to find some momentum as he came alongside the two stands side runners.
In the end, while the winning distance was only a neck, Shadow Of Light was firmly on top at the finish and connections were immediately turning their thoughts to a return to Newmarket next spring for the 2,000 Guineas.
“Will [Buick] said to me, ‘I can’t tell you not to look towards the Guineas in the spring’,” Appleby informed reporters. “He wouldn’t be the first Guineas horse to go there and not stay the mile on the day, and you can drop back to the Commonwealth, which we’ve seen done before. I imagine that will be our programme in the spring.”
Buick was quick to point out the difficulties of judging a race where they’d split into two groups. “You’re nearly winning two races, so it’s a very hard thing to do,” he said. “I can’t remember many two-year-olds I’ve ridden that would be able to do that.”
“He was running on his own doing fine, but once he got a sniff of the competition he found another gear.”
Neither of Appleby’s two previous Dewhurst winners have gone on to win the Guineas. Pintatubo was third while Native Trail finished second to stablemate Coroebus. Bookmaker Paddy Power make Shadow Of Light a 12/1 chance with betting sites to go one better next May.