Chaldean just holds on in Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket

Chaldean might have been saved by the wire, but nonetheless he won the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes on Saturday at Newmarket by a head over fast-closing Royal Scotsman.

It was the fourth win in a row for Chaldean, who was coming off a victory in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster over the same seven-furlong trip as the Dewhurst.

A Juddmonte Farms homebred by the Juddmonte stallion Frankel, Chaldean was ridden to a front-running victory by Frankie Dettori for trainer Andrew Balding, who only began training for Juddmonte this year.

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Chaldean broke poorly but soon came to the fore as 10-1 shot Royal Scotsman waited at the back of the field. Nostrum raced close to the pace and was in contention with a furlong and a half to run, but it was Chaldean who found more as Royal Scotsman came between horses to make things very close in the end while stepping up in distance from six-furlong starts.

Nostrum finished third, followed by Aesop’s Fables, Marbaan, Naval Power, and Isaac Shelby in what looked like a fairly modest renewal of the 2-year-old fixture. Chaldean, who is out of the Dutch Art mare Suelita, is a candidate for the 2000 Guineas over one mile at Newmarket next spring, but Balding cautioned that one mile might be the colt’s maximum trip.

A race earlier, Silver Knott found room outside rivals and won the Group 3 Autumn Stakes by a head over Epictetus. Holloway Boy, the favorite, raced in tight quarters along the rail while trying to rally but could land only a minor blow finishing third. A Godolphin homebred, Silver Knott, by Lope de Vega out of the Nathaniel mare God Given, is trained by Charlie Appleby, who mentioned the colt earlier this week as a possible runner in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

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