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Inquisitively claims Cornwallis Stakes

3 minute read

The Kevin Philippart De Foy-trained juvenile confirmed his initial promise with a commanding victory in the opening Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.

INQUISITIVELY (left) winning the Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket in England. Picture: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

The son of Ten Sovereigns showed promise for Ollie Sangster before making a winning stable debut in the Listed Julia Graves Roses Stakes last-time-out, but soft ground ruled him out of the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster last month.

Connections would have been umming and ahhing over the colts participation following significant persistent overnight rain, but they allowed the speedy juvenile to take his chance and it proved a worthy decision.

Inquisitively started quickly under the hands of champion jockey William Buick and after travelling sweetly on the front end, he soon kicked into a clear advantage approaching the dip. Kevin Philippart De Foy's runner drifted towards the far rail but found himself nicely clear deep inside the final furlong and he readily kept up the gallop to score by a comfortable one and a half lengths.

Rosario backed up his excellent third-place finish in the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster by filling the runner-up spot, but he was no match for the authoritative 10/3 market leader. Unbreak My Heart (25/1) finished back in third.

Paddy Power introduced the winner at 8/1 for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita next month.

Philippart de Foy, who was enjoying a first Group success in his training career, said: "I wasn't that confident beforehand [because of the ground], but he is a very tough horse. He took the lead and grabbed the race from the get-go.

"When I saw three horses in line halfway through the race, I was a bit worried, but as William says he breathes very well and relaxes. When he asked him to quicken up, he put it to bed very nicely.

"I think he is a five-furlong horse, but we will probably have to try the six [furlongs] later down the line. I feel he has got bags of speed, and he jumped so well today as he took out length out of them from the stalls. 

"He travelled very strongly. He relaxes very well in his races. To me, he is a five-furlong horse at the moment. 

"For the time being he is (staying here). He was sold to go to Hong Kong, but he worked very well at mine so I asked if I could run him at York. He ran at York and won, and we decided to go for one more today. I would love to keep him, but we will have to speak to the owner (Wee Sean Gan). 

"We've had a couple of Listed winners, but I wanted a Group winner this year and I was very keen to get a two-year-old Group winner, so it is job done. The next step is a Group Two or Group One."

Assessing future plans, the triumphant trainer hinted that Inquisitively could now head to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on November 3rd.

He added: "You have a question mark on the Breeders' Cup obviously. It is a long way out and we will have to discuss. It is not out of the question."