Clive Cox’s excellent form with his team of juveniles in 2020 stepped up to a new level here on Saturday as Supremacy stayed on strongly through the final quarter-mile to land the Group One Middle Park Stakes.
Cox saddled the 100-1 Coventry Stakes winner, Nando Parrado, at Royal Ascot in June, took the Richmond at Goodwood in July with Saturday’s winner and the Group Two Rockfel Stakes here on Friday with Isabella Giles before Supremacy’s gritty success 24 hours later.
Supremacy was the fourth-favourite in the betting but kept on bravely as Lucky Vega, the 5-2 favourite, launched a challenge in the final furlong, with Minzaal (7-2) coming through late to finish third.
Paddy Power make Supremacy the 8-1 favourite for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot next June.
In the first of the day’s juvenile Group Ones, Alcohol Free turned round the form of her defeat by Happy Romance at Salisbury this month to emerge as a convincing winner of the Cheveley Park Stakes.
Andrew Balding’s filly was kept up with the pace by Oisin Murphy, was in front before halfway and then stayed on strongly to beat Miss Amulet and Umm Kulthum by a half-length and a head with Happy Romance only fourth.
“She didn’t have a great draw at Salisbury and we only had a couple of lengths to find with Happy Romance, who was going to be one of the favourites here,” Balding said.
“She’s very athletic and tall and she’s been on a fast track really because she was the first two-year-old filly she’d run when we went to the races with her. She should stay a mile and she would relax better with a bit of cover but Oisin couldn’t see a lot of pace in the race and didn’t want to be too far back. I’m well past trying to give him instructions and he did a fantastic job.”
Alcohol Free was cut to around 20-1 for next year’s 1,000 Guineas, while
New Mandate, who took the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes for Ralph Beckett, is 10-1 for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland in November.