The great duel turned out to be a singular flop as Duke of Marmalade swept aside any doubts about his superiority over New Approach on Saturday when winning the Juddmonte International at Newmarket.
The great duel turned out to be a singular flop as Duke of Marmalade swept aside any doubts about his superiority over New Approach on Saturday when winning the Juddmonte International at Newmarket.
The Aidan O'Brien star confirmed his official status as the best horse in the world as he demonstrated his talent and true grit to hold off Phoenix Tower with New Approach a well-beaten third.
This was his fifth Group 1 win of the season and his status was summed best by the trainer who said: "He is so special you wonder if he is flesh and blood."
The odds-on favourite never saw his rival' from Ireland at any point in the race as he sat just behind stablemate pacemaker Red Rock Canyon, before going to the front two furlongs out.
He was tackled gamely by Phoenix Tower, who put in a strong challenge, but the champion dug deep again and strode past the line three-quarters of a length to the good with New Approach two-and-a-half lengths behind in third spot.
The Duke is now heading for Leopardstown, and so is New Approach. Said O'Brien: "If all is well with him, the plan will be to go for the Irish Champion Stakes in two weeks."
Trainer Jim Bolger said of New Approach: "He's beaten but definitely not battered. He ran a good race and is obviously on the way back.
"We'll regroup and I'm sure you'll see a different horse in two weeks' time, I'm not using the ground as an excuse. It will be Leopardstown next for the Irish Champion Stakes."
William Hill trimmed Duke of Marmalade into 4-5 from even money for the rematch, while New Approach is out to 100-30.
Those odds will look good to the Duke's fans as it is hard to imagine the Bolger horse, even if he will be all the fitter for his run following a long break, getting the better of the older horse.
Perhaps if the trainer can sort out the Derby winner's quirky temperament, there will be a chance, but that is a tough task. New Approach still pulls so hard that he seems to starve himself of energy at the business end of the race.
He was trying to pull jockey Kevin Manning's arms out in the first two furlongs on Saturday and, considering that, he did well in the end to get up to be third.
Murtagh continued his magnificent run of big-race victories yesterday when he won the Group 1 Prix Morny on 9-2 favourite Bushranger at Deauville.
Irish trainer David Wachman's two-year-old had looked to be in trouble in the middle point of the race but ran on in good style to beat Brian Meehan's Gallagher (8-1), ridden by Jimmy Fortune.
Lord Shanakill completed a clean sweep of the places for the British and Irish runners by grabbing third place at 8-1.
