First Blood On Champions Day To Gosden As Dynaformer’s Flying Officer Takes the Long Distance Cup

Only sixth in this stamina test when still in the early stages of his maturity 12 months ago, Flying Officer showed how much he has come forward in the interim by registering an ultimately comfortable success for the omnipresent John Gosden-Frankie Dettori partnership. Fitted with a hood that has stayed on ever since when opening his black-type account in the Listed Further Flight S. over 14 furlongs at Nottingham last April, the homebred was off the track for five months until running second to Pallasator (GB) (Motivator {GB}) in Newmarket’s Listed Rose Bowl over this trip prior to his sixth when encountering a barging match in this contest. Back belatedly with an authoritative win in a 14-furlong conditions event at Salisbury Sept. 3, Flying Officer returned to Newmarket’s Rose Bowl three weeks later to go one better than 12 months earlier and set himself up perfectly for this test. Settled in mid-division early against the fence, the bay was the first of the main protagonists to be asked to make a move as the supplemented 3-year-old Amour de Nuit (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) stacked his rivals up and he responded by taking closer order with three quarters of a mile left to race. On the heels of the long-time leader turning for home, he was sent past and to the front with a quarter mile remaining and was therefore out of the trouble which began to develop in behind. While that scrimmaging between tiring and one-paced stayers meant that Clever Cookie had to switch around and lose ground, Flying Officer had command up ahead and may have been idling as he wandered around late on. “He was very brave for me and took every gap,” commented Dettori, who was adding yet another abiding memory to his catalogue of such moments at this famed track. “He’s got very low mileage, is a big unit and he’s unbeaten this year, so is on the way up.” Gosden has the other big “Cup” races for stayers earmarked in 2016 and added, “Today he got his act together, as he’s quite a character and we’ll put him away for next year. His brother Lucarno was a big, aggressive horse, but he is more inclined to have a look around. The plan was to sit second and when the gap appeared and Frankie nipped up there that was the race-winning move. He hasn’t been the easiest to train with various niggling issues, but it’s allowed him to come here a very fresh horse and that has shown today. He doesn’t want it rattling firm or heavy, but he seemed to relish that.” Clever Cookie’s trainer Peter Niven commented, “I think he’s been exceptionally unlucky, he was drawn in 13 and was never in a position we wanted to be. He had to switch round the field and made up a lot of ground late on, but the winner got first run on us. I thought he was cherry-ripe coming here today, and even though he got beat we still have a fair horse on our hands. There are plenty of races at the end of the season for him and at the start, so he might split his season next year.”

Saturday, Ascot, Britain
QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS LONG DISTANCE CUP-G2, £345,000, ASC, 10-17, 3yo/up, 16fT, 3:32.19, g/s.
1–@FLYING OFFICER, 133, h, 5, by Dynaformer
1st Dam: Vignette (SW-US, $132,882), by Diesis (GB)
2nd Dam: Be Exclusive (Ire), by Be My Guest
3rd Dam: Exclusive Fable, by Exclusive Native
O/B-George Strawbridge (PA); T-John Gosden; J-Frankie Dettori. £195,650. Lifetime Record: 9-6-1-0, $432,185. *Full to Lucarno, Hwt. 3yo-Eng at 14+f & G1SW-Eng, $1,146,233; and Thought Worthy, GSW-Eng, $343,387. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”pa-bred”]
2–Clever Cookie (GB), 133, g, 7, Primo Valentino (Ire)–Mystic Memory (GB), by Ela-Mana-Mou (Ire). O-Francis Green Racing Ltd; B-Mrs J A Niven (GB); T-Peter Niven. £74,175.
3–Wicklow Brave (GB), 133, g, 6, Beat Hollow (GB)–Moraine (GB), by Rainbow Quest. (€11,000 Ylg ‘10 TATSPT; €43,000 3yo ‘12 TIJUN). O-Wicklow Bloodstock (Ireland) Ltd; B-Millsec Ltd. (GB); T-Willie Mullins. £37,122.
Margins: 1, 1, 2 3/4. Odds: 6.00, 8.00, 10.00.
Also Ran: Pallasator (GB), Hidden Gold (Ire), Suegioo (Fr), Amour de Nuit (Ire), Forgotten Rules (Ire), Litigant (GB), Gale Force (GB), Simenon (Ire), Agent Murphy (GB), Clondaw Warrior (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result, the brisnet.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.