A top-class display from the Roger Varian-trained 13/8 favourite, early in the home stretch the grey looked as though he would saunter away with the one-mile race.

He soon had a battle on his hands when the French-trained Facteur Cheval made his challenge inside the closing furlong of the contest.

Charyn responded strongly for his rider, Silvester de Souza, and pulled away to claim a two-length victory.

The Jerome Raynier-handled 11/2 shot Facteur Cheval was runner-up in the race for a second year, while Tamfana (7/2) was next best for trainer David Menuisier, four and a quarter lengths further behind in third place.

Charyn had already claimed Group 1 victories this season in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group 1 Prix Jacque Le Marois in France.

An elated Roger Varian said:

“Charyn is a super horse and that was fantastic. Everything went very smooth, and it was a lovely race to watch. Silvestre got me a bit nervous! He just sat comfortable and you could see the second coming, and then Charyn had to get to work and he showed his battling qualities. He’s got everything, that horse.

“I promise you, he’s got the most amazing constitution. Every time I’ve run him in his life, I’ve thought he was too heavy, because he just holds his condition like no other horse. Touch wood, he’s sound, he loves his work, he loves his racing. He’s just got such a good mentality for the game, and an engine to go with it.”

Heading for stud

The winning conditioner expressed his disappointment that Charyn would now run again as a five-year-old next season, stating:

“I think it’s already been announced that he will retire at the end of this season. He will be a stallion for Nurlan Bizakov’s stud operation in France. I, of course, would love him to stay in training, but I think that’s not going to be the case. We’ll have to see how he comes out of this race, we might just contemplate one more international run.”

The successful rider, Silvester de Souza, admitted that he was in front too early in the home straight:

“I thought I was in front a bit too soon, but the ground is so wet and, when it’s wet, you can lose momentum if you try and take them back. You just have to sit quiet and I knew that, whatever challenged me in the final furlong, I had plenty left.”

The post Third 2024 Group 1 for Charyn in Queen Elizabeth II Stakes appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

In a tribute to Defoe on his trainer Roger Varian’s website, it states:

“It is probably not a safe assumption that only those who were closely connected with the horse will be heartbroken that he has left this life. Although not large in stature Defoe had the heart of a lion and his adoring fans from around the world will no doubt join us in mourning his loss and celebrating his achievements.”

The six-year-old Irish-bred was owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, was trained at Varian Stable in Newmarket, and had been ridden in most of his races by Andrea Atzeni.

RIP Defoe

2⃣2⃣ races
9⃣ wins
Coronation Cup
Hardwicke Stakes
Jockey Club Stakes
Surprise Stakes
Geoffrey Freer Stakes

Absolutely devastating news pic.twitter.com/neg9ZYAYLM

— Racing Breaks (@RacingBreaks) July 29, 2020

Having won just one minor race as a two-year-old, the son of Dalakhani (from whom he inherited his grey colour) won four consecutive races as a three-year-old including the Listed Glasgow Stakes and the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes.

In 2018 Defoe won the Group 3 John Porter Stakes and the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes and was gelded at the end of that year.

He claimed his only Group 1 success as a five-year-old when taking the Coronation Cup at Epsom, beating Kew Gardens, who had won the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster the previous season. Defoe went on to register a win in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, a victory that would ultimately turn out to be his last.

Last March he suffered a short-head defeat in the Group 2 City Of Gold at Meydan, UAE, with his long term target having been the Group 1 Sheema Classic three weeks later, on Dubai World Cup night. That meeting was abandoned however following the coronavirus outbreak.

Referring to Defoe’s final race at Royal Ascot in June, today’s statement from Varian Stable said:

“It is a great sadness that Defoe’s final race came at an eerily empty Royal Ascot where he ran an admirable race to finish third in the G2 Hardwicke Stakes, a scene that was a world away from those jubilant celebrations with Sheikh Mohammed Obaid in the winner’s enclosure twelve months previously.”

Defoe won a total of nine races from 22 career starts, and claimed £809,192 in prize money. In the 2019 World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, Defoe was given a rating of 118, making him the 78^th best racehorse in the world.

The post Defoe suffers fatal injury on gallops appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.