England: Native Trail makes Dewhurst second straight Group 1 triumph
Native Trail won his second Group 1 race of the season Saturday with a decisive score in the Dewhurst Stakes at England's Newmarket Racecourse and goes off for a winter rest as the favorite for the 2000 Guineas next spring.
Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin and ridden by William Buick, Native Trail followed up nicely on his upset of previously unbeaten Point Lonsdale in the Group 1 National Stakes on Sept. 12 in Ireland. That race, as well as the Dewhurst, came over seven furlongs but Native Trail, now 4 for 4 this season as Europe’s leading 2-year-old, should have no trouble staying one mile in the Guineas.
At Leopardstown last month Native Trail drew clear in the late stages, and he did the same thing again Saturday through the Dewhurst’s uphill finish, putting two lengths on pacesetting runner-up Dubawi Legend at the finish. Bayside Boy closed willingly to finish third, beaten a half-length for second.
The straight-course Dewhurst was contested over “good” ground with the winner, an odds-on favorite, clocking 1:24.82. By Oasis Dream out of Needleleaf, by Observatory, Native Trail is a strapping, physically advanced colt who has beaten talented horses in all four of his starts.
Godolphin, Appleby, and Buick had a second impressive winner as Coroebus landed the Group 3 Autumn Stakes over one mile in the race before the Dewhurst.
Coroebus looked like a sure winner at the furlong grounds of the Group 2, one-mile Royal Lodge last month at Newmarket before faltering badly as Royal Patronage ran him down. Connections made a tactical change for the Autumn, Buick riding Coroebus from the back of the field before swooping to a two-length win over Imperial Fighter. Coroebus, by Dubawi out of First Victory, by Teofilo, is another candidate for the 2022 Classic races and, like Native Trail, is not expected to race again this season.