David Junior, bred by Al Appleton, was a victim of the pace, trainer Brian Meehan said."There was a muddling old pace and that was what has beaten him," he complained. "There was no proper gallop, Hughesie has slipped them and fair dues to him. I wouldn't be worried about it. He is going forward all the time, and he is only a baby." Welcome Stranger ran third, 1 1/4 lengths behind the runner-up, and Opening Ceremony was well back in fourth. The final time was 2:17.7 on a good to firm course.
Jockey Richard Hughes called an audible early in the running of the Petros Rose of Lancaster Stakes (Eng-III) and the decision gave Juddmonte Farms' Kentucky-bred Notable Guest a free-running victory at Haydock Park Saturday.Trailing the five-horse field during the early stages of the 10-furlong, 120-yard event, Hughes decided the pace was too slow and gradually pushed the 4-year-old son of Kingmambo to the lead by the midway point. Coming under pressure in the final quarter-mile, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained 5-1 hope Notable Guest kicked away to defeat the 4-6 favorite David Junior by three lengths."The plan was to sit him in behind and get him relaxed, but the pace they were going I said 'I am not going to win from here' so I let him slide along," Hughes told Racing Post. "When I picked him up in the last two he really flew, he wasn't stopping. He is relaxed now and he is going the right way."