Clean sweep has Charlie Appleby dreaming of the Triple Crown after Desert Flower completed astounding weekend for Godolphin
Desert Flower completed an astounding weekend for Godolphin and left trainer Charlie Appleby pondering the potential to make history this summer.
Godolphin, the venture of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed, are synonymous with winning big races but they have never hit the jackpot quite like this. Desert Flower was superb in the Betfred 1000 Guineas, supplementing a brilliant display from stablemate Ruling Court in the 2000 Guineas.
For good measure, Cinderella's Dream took the Dahlia Stakes on Sunday's Newmarket card. That came on the back of Sovereignty giving Godolphin their first triumph in Saturday's Kentucky Derby and Good Cheer taking the Kentucky Oaks on Friday night; both horses are trained in America.
Appleby, not surprisingly, was overjoyed with what he had seen. He was the first trainer to do the Guineas double since Aidan O'Brien in 2019 and Paddy Power slashed Desert Flower's odds for the Oaks, which has been nominated as her next target, into 5/2 from 7/1.
Ruling Court is also 4/1 second favourite for the Derby and, if either were successful, it would open up the prospect of having an attempt at the Triple Crown. Sponsors Betfred have offered a £2million bonus if a horse wins at Newmarket, Epsom and finishes by winning Doncaster's St Leger.
Appleby said: 'Dreams are free, aren't they? You have got to dream and you have got to be forward thinking. What do they say? Think big. What we (Godolphin) have done this weekend is historic. You get a lot of pleasure from it and it encourages you to try again.'
There is no question Appleby will aim Desert Flower at Epsom. She had been the subject of sustained support and was sent-off the evens favourite; those who took cramped odds never had a moment's concern as she made all and fended off the Ollie Sangster-pair Flight (28/1) and Simmering (33/1).
'There have been very strong vibes coming out of the Godolphin team for weeks now so to push her close like that is a real feather in the cap for both our fillies,' said Sangster, who has only been training for three years. 'I don't know whether to be happy or disappointed – we were so close.'
It took jockey William Buick an eternity to pull Desert Flower up and she showed all the exuberance that had been evident in a breathtaking racecourse gallop at Newmarket 18 days earlier; she is now unbeaten in five races and it will take a huge effort to stop her following up at Epsom.
Such was Buick's delight when he came back to meet Godolphin's stable lads, he stood out of his irons and roared 'Awesome! Awesome!' – it was going to take a lot for Buick, an ardent Liverpool fan, to get a bigger kick than seeing his team win the Premier League but this eclipsed it for him.
'I'm a very happy man,' Buick said. 'This means the world. What a weekend for Godolphin, his highness Sheikh Mohammed and Dubai. It's unbelievable. She's incredible. She's very uncomplicated and she keeps galloping. She's all class.'
Oh So Sharp, in 1985, was the last filly to win do the treble of 1000 Guineas Oaks and St Leger, while Nijinsky, in 1970, remains the last colt to have done the colt's treble of 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger. The last horse to attempt the unique feat was Camelot in 2012; he was beaten at Doncaster.
'What we have done this weekend is remarkable,' said Appleby. 'I was not surprised by what I saw from Desert Flower. I knew when she got to "the dip" that she would eat the hill in front of her and that's what she has done. Once she goes through the gears, she is away.
'I see no reason why she won't get further and I see no reason why we won't go to Epsom. It's something nice to think about and we will discuss it all as a team. For the moment, I just want to go and have a nice, relaxing drink!'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Ruling Court forced to miss Derby due to ground conditions
Jockey William Buick rode in the first race and reported conditions to be softer than ideal for Charlie Appleby's Justify colt. With plenty of rain forecast, and the potential for it to be torrential, Appleby took the decision to take his stable star out. 'It's very disappointing, he'd been aimed here and he's in great nick, but the ground conditions yesterday were a concern with the filly (Desert Flower in the Oaks) and William said it rode genuine good to soft yesterday,' said Appleby. 'We appreciate it was probably drying out through the course of the day (on Friday), but there was rain overnight on open ground 'We arrived here today with an open mind, William rode in the first and he felt it was genuine good to soft and so did the other jocks.' He added: 'It's disappointing, but ultimately as an operation we've done what we think is right for the horse. 'It's the ultimate challenge for these horses and as we saw yesterday with the filly it was disappointing, which of course it is when you have an unbeaten filly. It was her first defeat, but it was probably track, ground and trip that beat us and we were looking down the barrel of the same with this colt today. 'It is ground that has ultimately made the decision, the trip we were still confident like we were with the filly – you always are until you run them and get that answer. 'I feel it was the right call and we will look forward to Ascot with him. With today, if you win it's fantastic, but if you get beat in a race of this nature in these conditions you'll miss six weeks with him and that means missing the St James's Palace and Coral-Eclipse which are two important races that could be added to his resume.' Ruling Court has been put in as 5-2 second-favourite behind Field Of Gold at evens for the St James's Palace Stakes with Coral. Appleby added: 'We'll stick to the mile at Ascot and then look forwards from there. We've always been keen to step him up and hindsight is great isn't it. If we had been fourth in the Guineas we would have said great that's a lovely Derby trial, yet you win a Guineas and there is so much more in the pot. 'Ultimately we have a high-class horse on our hands and we've made the right decision by the horse.' The decision to remain at a mile with Ruling Court has opened the door for 2000 Guineas third Shadow Of Light to revert to six furlongs for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, the distance he won the Middle Park Stakes over as a juvenile. Appleby said: 'I'd say if Ruling Court does go for the St James's Palace as planned we'll give strong consideration to dropping Shadow Of Light back in trip for the Commonwealth Cup.' The Moulton Paddocks handler also provided an update on Desert Flower. He said: 'She's fine this morning, albeit she knows she's had a race in those conditions. We'll give it a day or two then reassess.'
Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Ruling Court forced to miss Derby due to ground conditions
Jockey William Buick rode in the first race and reported conditions to be softer than ideal for Charlie Appleby's Justify colt. With plenty of rain forecast, and the potential for it to be torrential, Appleby took the decision to take his stable star out. 'It's very disappointing, he'd been aimed here and he's in great nick, but the ground conditions yesterday were a concern with the filly (Desert Flower in the Oaks) and William said it rode genuine good to soft yesterday,' said Appleby. 'We appreciate it was probably drying out through the course of the day (on Friday), but there was rain overnight on open ground 'We arrived here today with an open mind, William rode in the first and he felt it was genuine good to soft and so did the other jocks.' He added: 'It's disappointing, but ultimately as an operation we've done what we think is right for the horse. 'It's the ultimate challenge for these horses and as we saw yesterday with the filly it was disappointing, which of course it is when you have an unbeaten filly. It was her first defeat, but it was probably track, ground and trip that beat us and we were looking down the barrel of the same with this colt today. 'It is ground that has ultimately made the decision, the trip we were still confident like we were with the filly – you always are until you run them and get that answer. 'I feel it was the right call and we will look forward to Ascot with him. With today, if you win it's fantastic, but if you get beat in a race of this nature in these conditions you'll miss six weeks with him and that means missing the St James's Palace and Coral-Eclipse which are two important races that could be added to his resume.' Ruling Court has been put in as 5-2 second-favourite behind Field Of Gold at evens for the St James's Palace Stakes with Coral. Appleby added: 'We'll stick to the mile at Ascot and then look forwards from there. We've always been keen to step him up and hindsight is great isn't it. If we had been fourth in the Guineas we would have said great that's a lovely Derby trial, yet you win a Guineas and there is so much more in the pot. 'Ultimately we have a high-class horse on our hands and we've made the right decision by the horse.' The decision to remain at a mile with Ruling Court has opened the door for 2000 Guineas third Shadow Of Light to revert to six furlongs for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, the distance he won the Middle Park Stakes over as a juvenile. Appleby said: 'I'd say if Ruling Court does go for the St James's Palace as planned we'll give strong consideration to dropping Shadow Of Light back in trip for the Commonwealth Cup.' The Moulton Paddocks handler also provided an update on Desert Flower. He said: 'She's fine this morning, albeit she knows she's had a race in those conditions. We'll give it a day or two then reassess.'
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Ruling Court forced to miss Derby due to ground conditions
Jockey William Buick rode in the first race and reported conditions to be softer than ideal for Charlie Appleby's Justify colt. With plenty of rain forecast, and the potential for it to be torrential, Appleby took the decision to take his stable star out. 'It's very disappointing, he'd been aimed here and he's in great nick, but the ground conditions yesterday were a concern with the filly (Desert Flower in the Oaks) and William said it rode genuine good to soft yesterday,' said Appleby. 'We appreciate it was probably drying out through the course of the day (on Friday), but there was rain overnight on open ground 'We arrived here today with an open mind, William rode in the first and he felt it was genuine good to soft and so did the other jocks.' He added: 'It's disappointing, but ultimately as an operation we've done what we think is right for the horse. 'It's the ultimate challenge for these horses and as we saw yesterday with the filly it was disappointing, which of course it is when you have an unbeaten filly. It was her first defeat, but it was probably track, ground and trip that beat us and we were looking down the barrel of the same with this colt today. 'It is ground that has ultimately made the decision, the trip we were still confident like we were with the filly – you always are until you run them and get that answer. 'I feel it was the right call and we will look forward to Ascot with him. With today, if you win it's fantastic, but if you get beat in a race of this nature in these conditions you'll miss six weeks with him and that means missing the St James's Palace and Coral-Eclipse which are two important races that could be added to his resume.' Ruling Court has been put in as 5-2 second-favourite behind Field Of Gold at evens for the St James's Palace Stakes with Coral. Appleby added: 'We'll stick to the mile at Ascot and then look forwards from there. We've always been keen to step him up and hindsight is great isn't it. If we had been fourth in the Guineas we would have said great that's a lovely Derby trial, yet you win a Guineas and there is so much more in the pot. 'Ultimately we have a high-class horse on our hands and we've made the right decision by the horse.' The decision to remain at a mile with Ruling Court has opened the door for 2000 Guineas third Shadow Of Light to revert to six furlongs for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, the distance he won the Middle Park Stakes over as a juvenile. Appleby said: 'I'd say if Ruling Court does go for the St James's Palace as planned we'll give strong consideration to dropping Shadow Of Light back in trip for the Commonwealth Cup.' The Moulton Paddocks handler also provided an update on Desert Flower. He said: 'She's fine this morning, albeit she knows she's had a race in those conditions. We'll give it a day or two then reassess.'
