Dubawi's Lead Artist Wins The Lockinge For Juddmonte And The Gosdens

A renewal of Newbury's G1 BoyleSports Lockinge Stakes which read like a baffling puzzle beforehand went the way of Juddmonte's Lead Artist, with the son of Dubawi the one with the right mix of readiness and tactical advantage on Saturday. Supported into 17-2 for the mile feature, with the Gosdens fully expecting the regally-connected homebred to leave his latest last-of-eight in the G2 Sandown Mile way behind, the otherwise progressive 4-year-old was positioned near the steady early tempo by Oisin Murphy with the race's main fancies anchored too far back.

As the heat was turned up at halfway, it was the Sandown Mile winner Dancing Gemini who attacked first of the closers and he managed to get in front of Lead Artist inside the final furlong only to pay for his hard effort near the line. There was a neck between the winner and that 2-1 favourite there, with Rosallion 2 1/4 lengths away on his return.

“He's got a great deal of talent and it was a beautiful ride,” Gosden Sr said of the winner, whose 3-year-old highlights had come when taking Goodwood's G3 Thoroughbred Stakes and Newmarket's G3 Darley Stakes. “It was dead ground at Sandown and he had been working at home fine, but he just plain blew up and Kieran [Shoemark] looked after him. That race brought him on a lot and he got a peach of a ride from Oisin.”

LEAD ARTIST storms home to win the @BoyleSports Lockinge Stakes! 🏆@oismurphy | @NewburyRacing pic.twitter.com/dpiJ0hbjmN

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 17, 2025

First seen in Newmarket's Wood Ditton last April, Lead Artist had been kept away from the top level in 2024 with the stable keen to experiment with trip. In between his wins over a mile Goodwood and over nine furlongs at Newmarket, he was tried at seven in Doncaster's G2 Park Stakes but had no answer to the specialist Kinross there. Taken to Bahrain for the International Trophy in November, he was second best as Spirit Dancer brought up his repeat before his Sandown relaunch.

Key to success here was the winner being close enough to the pace-setter Fallen Angel from the outset to race on par as Rosallion and Notable Speech waited further back. Lead Artist was able to close out in 33.68, while Dancing Gemini was forced into two sub-11-second splits between the three and the one as Ryan Moore swooped from a length further back. Rosallion and Notable Speech gave firm evidence on the sectionals that they retain all of their 3-year-old prowess, with their last furlong almost identical as they tired.

With the Queen Anne in mind, the ability of Lead Artist to stay the mile strongly on what is likely to be similarly fast ground puts him in pole position despite the obvious improvement expected of last year's kingpins. “He likes summer fast ground and he showed it here,” Gosden Sr added. “He's a powerful horse with a lot of speed. He was in a position where he was able to go first, they had to get him and he was able to go again because he still had plenty of talent in reserve. We don't want a wet Ascot and if the ground is okay, we'll be going to the Queen Anne and a stiff mile at Ascot will suit him well.”

Oisin Murphy added, “He has a great demeanour, relaxed well and showed a lot of guts against the second horse. I was aware it might turn into a sprint and possibly if I had been beaten I would have thought I may have made more use of my horse, but fortunately it all worked out. The yard was very confident and they prepared him well–it is a while since I have won a Group One for Clarehaven and this is my first for Juddmonte.”

Roger Teal was far from downcast about the eclipse of Dancing Gemini. “He's beaten the rest of them convincingly, but it was just an awkward draw out on the flank and he had to take him back to get a bit of cover,” he said. “Like Ryan said, he was a length further back than he wanted to be, but what do you do when you're stuck out there? He's gone down on his sword and hasn't let us down. He's a Group 1 winner waiting to happen. He's run a smashing race in what was probably the strongest Lockinge I've seen for a while.”

Richard Hannon said of Rosallion, “Of course I'm disappointed not to win, but I'm sure in a few hours we will realise he has run a very good race. He has travelled into the race lovely and he will improve massively for it. He has proved that he is the horse he was last year. He is a year older and it's the same story as last year in the Guineas. He will strip a lot fitter next time and will take a lot of beating in the Queen Anne.”

Charlie Appleby was echoing those thoughts with Notable Speech. “Will [Buick] said he has shown all his usual enthusiasm and he has travelled well,” he said. “He just got tired in the last 200 yards there, but that will put him spot on for Ascot. He is 100 per-cent a miler.”

Pedigree Notes
Lead Artist is the first foal out of Frankel's Obligate, whose career was defined by success in the G2 Prix de Sandringham and a third in the G1 Prix Rothschild over this trip. She is a granddaughter of the operation's outstanding producer Hasili, responsible for five top-level winners by Danehill and one by Green Desert. The latter was the Beverly D. and Matriarch heroine Heat Haze, whose three progeny by Dubawi include the Group 1-placed Ironclad and the Grade I-placed Forge. Sadly, Obligate's 3-year-old son of Siyouni and 2-year-old colt by No Nay Never both died but she has a yearling full-sister to Lead Artist to come.

Saturday, Newbury, Britain
BOYLESPORTS LOCKINGE STAKES-G1, £400,000, Newbury, 5-17, 4yo/up, 8fT, 1:35.06, g/f.
1–LEAD ARTIST (GB), 128, c, 4, by Dubawi (Ire)
     1st Dam: Obligate (GB) (GSW & G1SP-Fr, $167,084), by Frankel (GB)
     2nd Dam: Responsible (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB)
     3rd Dam: Hasili (Ire), by Kahyasi (Ire)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd; T-John & Thady Gosden; J-Oisin Murphy. £226,840. Lifetime Record: GSP-Bhr, 9-4-3-1, $713,878. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Dancing Gemini (Ire), 128, c, 4, Camelot (GB)–Lady Adelaide (Ire), by Australia (GB). O/B-Fishdance; T-Roger Teal. £86,000.
3–Rosallion (Ire), 128, c, 4, Blue Point (Ire)–Rosaline (Ire), by New Approach (Ire). O/B-Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum; T-Richard Hannon. £43,040.
Margins: NK, 2 1/4, SHD. Odds: 8.50, 2.00, 2.25.
Also Ran: Notable Speech (GB), Checkandchallenge (GB), Fallen Angel (GB), Tamfana (Ger), Persica (Ire). Scratched: Prague (Ire).