Al Kazeem has won the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh for trainer Roger Charlton and jockey James Doyle.
The win came two years after he gunned down Camelot in the same Group One event, the start of a magnificent summer during which he also claimed the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.
After being brought back from a disappointing stint at stud, Al Kazeem has been brilliantly handled by Roger Charlton with his narrow defeat at the hands of Noble Mission in last season’s Champion Stakes at Ascot a clear indicator he remained a force at the highest level.
After following Postponed and The Grey Gatsby into the home straight, Al Kazeem went through the smallest of gaps to take the lead, fending off a late challenge from Fascinating Rock, by a neck.
The seven-year-old will now bid to regain his crown in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal meeting.
“He’s amazing, looks amazing, is brave and all you need in a good racehorse,” Charlton said.
“I’m lucky to have one as good as that and to have him back from stud. I’d say it’s my proudest moment.
“James just said he travelled so well and felt almost better than ever.
“I just can’t believe a horse that’s been to stud and come back has, I guess, reached his best form.
“As long as he’s enjoying himself he’ll keep going and one day I’m sure he’ll go back to stud.”
It was the third successive win in the race for Doyle who praised his mount.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the horse. He’s everything you look for in a racehorse,” he said
