Garrus picks up deserved victory in Abernant Stakes
Garrus went one better than last year when holding off dual Stewards’ Cup winner Commanche Falls in the Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes at Newmarket, in which odds-on favourite Creative Force was only third.
The Charlie Hills-trained grey may be a seven-year-old but once more proved that some sprinters improve with age and he was winning the third Group Three of his career.
Last seen competing in Saudi Arabia, he made his challenge on the far side of the track under Ryan Moore.
Only beaten a length by Highfield Princess in the Prix Maurice de Gheest last season, the winner has some good form to his name but was expected to have plenty on his plate against Charlie Appleby’s Creative Force, who was down in grade.
However, William Buick was hard at work from some way out and it was Michael Dods’ Commanche Falls who made Garrus pull out all the stops.
💪 Gutsy from Garrus
The @cbhills-trained Garrus is a plucky winner of the G3 Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes under Ryan Moore pic.twitter.com/QiCboWk4yc
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) April 20, 2023
Garrus, a 9-1 chance, had a head to spare at the line, while Creative Force stayed on only steadily into third, three-quarters of a length away.
The winner was given a 20-1 quote by Betfair for the Platinum Jubilee at Royal Ascot.
Hills said: “He’s a wonderful horse and a pleasure to train really.
“He’s run some good races in some big races and he’s a good Group Three/Group Two horse. I don’t know if we’ll get sucked into making entries in those Group Ones as we’ve tried that, but we’ll see.
“It’s great to win a race like this. He was beaten a short head in it last year so it’s good for him to go one better.
“He’s in the Duke of York and he loves going to France so we’ll look at that as well. There are some nice races for him and he’s a horse any owner and trainer would love to have.”
Appleby said of the beaten favourite: “They went steady early, it turned into a bit of a burn-up and unfortunately they got racing on the far side of him so he had nothing to race with.
“Take nothing away from the winner, who has been knocking on the door for something like this as well, but from our point of view William said they got racing away from him on the far side and he was left picking up on his own really.
“We’ll probably look towards the Duke of York. You know what it’s like with these sprinters, they run week in week out and results change, so if they’re fit and well, run them.”
Hills doubled up in the finale when Harry Magnus came from an uncompromising position to win the Best Odds Guaranteed At bet365 Handicap.
Hills was full of praise for his jockey, William Buick, who brought the 5-1 shot through beautifully.
“That was a great ride. It was his first run so I thought he was just going to run a nice race but that was the most amazing ride I’ve seen for a while,” said Hills.
“He’s a nice horse. He’d only run once on turf before but was drawn one at Goodwood and jumped away from the others and was then in no man’s land.
“He’s been a bit green but he might get quicker, he’s not fully there yet.”
