By Sean Cronin
Godolphin's G1 Jebel Hatta hero Opera Ballo (Ghaiyyath) was like greased lightning exiting the stalls in Friday's G2 Bet365 Mile and, having stolen a march on his five rivals, made all to defeat G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace Stakes winner Field Of Gold (Kingman) by a mightily impressive three lengths in a stellar renewal of the Sandown feature.
“William [Buick] and I were chatting away yesterday and there wasn't a pace angle declared, so we said let him do what his father did and jump and run,” explained Charlie Appleby. “This horse is electric out of the gates and Will has always said he'll take two or three lengths out of them out of the gates. It was a great ride from Will there and a track you could do that on. Full credit to the horses in behind for getting so close, as it was always going to be a tough ask once our lad built up that lead and he maintained the gallop well. I just loved the way he went down to post today and he just hacked. I knew then he was in a good place. You could probably mark that up and people are saying he's the fit horse, but that was back in January. Maybe that run under his belt did help.”
Looking ahead, Appleby added, “Our plan was always to step back up to [an extended] nine furlongs for the [May 21 G1] Prix d'Ispahan and I would imagine that's where we will go. The Lockinge is of course there for us, but Notable Speech is on course for that.”
Racing under a Group 1 penalty and largely untroubled on the front end throughout, the 4-1 chance was asked to stretch with a quarter-mile remaining and maintained a relentless tempo under a late drive up the hill to take his record to seven-from-nine.
Juddmonte's runner-up, a fellow TDN Rising Star, had been patiently ridden and made an encouraging seasonal return, finishing 3/4-of-a-length ahead of the hitherto undefeated Zeus Olympios (Night Of Thunder) in third.
John Gosden was far from downcast in the aftermath and commented, “Field Of Gold has run a very nice race and the [G1] Lockinge will be the plan. As I said beforehand, he's only had one race in nine months and he was going to need it to bring him forwards. You'll never beat a front-runner around here when they go off like that. I knew William [Buick] was going to do that and I said to Colin [Keane] to settle him and bring him with one run. He's run a lovely race to finish second and I couldn't be more pleased by the way he has come there. I didn't expect him to beat that horse and a front-runner here is hard to beat when they get that kind of lead. I'm happy to see him run a solid race, but it's like a tennis player going into a tournament, you need to be match fit and this is how you get match fit.”
Reflecting on the performance of Zeus Olympios, Karl Burke said, “He's finished a neck away from Field Of Gold giving him three pounds and you couldn't say it was a bad run. Obviously I'm disappointed to lose the unbeaten record and the winner had fitness on his side, so I see no reason why we won't still head to the Lockinge. He was a few kilos heavier than he was last year and he will definitely come on for the run.”
Pedigree Notes
Opera Ballo is the second of five foals and leading performer out of a full-sister to dual Group 3 winner Lockwood (Invincible Spirit) and Listed Gala Stakes third Saga (Invincible Spirit).
His dam Dubai Opera (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) is also kin to G1 Criterium International runner-up and G3 Prix Thomas Bryon-winning sire Earnshaw (Medaglia D'Oro) out of G3 Prix des Reservoirs victrix Emily Bronte (Machiavellian).
The winner is a half-brother to Listed Prix Maurice Zilber third Dyptique (Night Of Thunder), the unraced two-year-old filly Opera Diva (Baaeed) and a yearling colt by Paddington.
Group 1 winner Opera Ballo makes all in the Group 2 @bet365 Mile! pic.twitter.com/9QSNEnmBHS
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 24, 2026
Friday, Sandown, Britain
BET365 MILE-G2, £165,000, Sandown, 4-24, 4yo/up, 8fT, 1:42.26, gd.
1–OPERA BALLO (IRE), 134, c, 4, by Ghaiyyath (Ire)
1st Dam: Dubai Opera (GB), by Invincible Spirit (Ire)
2nd Dam: Emily Bronte (GB), by Machiavellian
3rd Dam: Zafadola (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
TDN Rising Star. (€600,000 Ylg '23 ARAUG). O-Godolphin; B-Ecurie de Cachene; T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick. £93,572. Lifetime Record: G1SW-UAE, 9-7-1-0, $725,815. *1/2 to Dyptique (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), SP-Fr. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Field Of Gold (Ire), 129, c, 4, Kingman (GB)–Princess De Lune (Ire), by Shamardal. TDN Rising Star. (€530,000 Wlg '22 GOFNO1). O-Juddmonte; B-Roundhill Stud; T-John & Thady Gosden. £35,475.
3–Zeus Olympios (GB), 132, c, 4, Night Of Thunder (Ire)–Rhea (GB), by Siyouni (Fr). O-Exors of the Late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid; B-Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum; T-Karl Burke. £17,754.
Margins: 3, 3/4, 3 3/4. Odds: 4.00, 1.00, 3.33.
Also Ran: Cicero's Gift (GB), Never So Brave (Ire), Dancing Gemini (Ire).
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