Knight gives Charlton more Curragh glory

Decorated Knight maintained Roger Charlton's magnificent record in Group Ones at the Curragh when claiming the Tattersalls Gold Cup this afternoon.

The British handler last four runners at the track have now struck at the top level following the victory for the son of Galileo.

He was following in the footsteps of former stable-mate Al Kazeem, who took the same prize in 2013 and 2015.

Andrea Atzeni tracked the leader Success Days in the ten furlong contest before striking for home at the furlong pole on the 7/2 favourite.

The five-year-old kept on well in the closing stages and held the late run of Somehow by a length-and-a-half.

The runner-up has to weave her way through traffic before staying on well in the closing stages.

Decorated Knight wins the @tatts_ireland Gold Cup! @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/Q1QQqEv3nt

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 28, 2017

“I was very worried when I saw the ground yesterday. I knew the forecast was for heavy showers yesterday but not like an inch or whatever they had,” said Charlton.

“People kept tactfully sending me photographs of flooded car parks and puddles everywhere and I thought it was getting bad.

“I thought we'd come and have a look and decide today. Most of those horses probably wanted fast ground to be fair.

“The surface was a bit dead, it's good to soft, but the course is in fantastic condition. They've opened up a new strip. I walked the course and was very pleasantly surprised how good it was. No complaints.

“He doesn't have to have rattling quick ground. In Dubai it affected him quite badly.

“This horse has improved and improved. The Group 1 race he won in Meydan wouldn't have been the strongest race and this is a stronger race. He keeps on improving.

“If Minding had turned up it would have been a different story but he won with his ears pricked and was pulling up in front.

“When Somehow came to him he picked up again. He can't do more than that. Somehow is a good filly and it's fair form.

“He got a nice lead and came at the right time. He picked up nicely but then pricked his ears a bit and Andrea said he was a bit lonely in front.

“It was perfect and the race worked out well. They didn't actually go a very strong gallop and it was handy to be close to it.

“It looked like Deauville was struggling some way back, who was the horse that we finished upsides in Meydan with. I was kind of confident we might beat him.

“He has a very classy pedigree. He's a very close relation to Gleneagles and his dam is a half-sister to Giants Causeway so he has a stallion career.

“We were looking to go aboard a bit but you would have to run at Ascot. It's worked for us before so hopefully it will work again.

“He went to the Arlington Million last year and got loose in the middle of the night somehow and cut his leg badly. So we couldn't run him after that.”

Andrea Atzeni said:- "We were a bit worried about the ground. It's on the slow side of good and a bit tacky. However Mr Charlton was very positive about him, he travelled beautifully through the race and won cosy in the end. He has a high cruising speed and a good turn of foot."

Both Paddy Power and Betfair shortened the winner from 20/1 to 10/1 for the Prince Of Wales Stakes.

(Additional reporting by Alan Magee)