Master Of The Seas made a winning return to home soil in the Fred Cowley MBE Memorial Summer Mile Stakes at Ascot.
Charlie Appleby’s five-year-old was runner-up in the 2000 Guineas during his Classic season and has always been a fine operator at this distance. But he had not been seen on home soil since winning the Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket last year, with his most recent outings in Dubai.
Sent off at 11-2 for the Group Two contest, James Doyle was in no rush as he had positioned Master Of The Seas positioned towards the rear alongside Mighty Ulysses, with stablemate New Kingdom and American raider Classic Causeway blazing a trail up front.
However, those at the rear began to close as the nine-strong field rounded the turn for home and it was not long before the Godolphin runner was showing his class and surged to the lead before galloping clear to register a four-length victory over the 11-10 favourite Aldaary, with Royal Hunt Cup winner Jimi Hendrix a further half-length adrift in third.
“It was a bit messy,” the winning rider told Sky Sports Racing. “I actually jumped pretty well, but they were flying along and he’s a bit of a sensitive horse. He’s not one you kind of dig in the ribs and hold your position on, you just have to let him find his own rhythm so we were quite far back. But I was kind of happy and in a comfort zone.
“Off the bend they all kind of stopped and although he’s not a horse you really want to be there two furlongs out on, they just all died and in this ground I just wanted to keep the revs up so I wasn’t asking him to quicken.
“To be fair the ground wasn’t too bad out there, the wind has helped it a lot, and it shows as he was able to produce a performance like that.
“We have to be realistic in the sense that this is always a good time to catch him, he always runs well after a break. He did back it up in Dubai this year and Charlie will have a plan. Whether that is pot hunting around the world we’ll have to see, but Charlie will have a plan.
“It was only my second try on him today, but he certainly behaved himself impeccably considering how he was before and he’s certainly growing up.”
Master Of The Seas was handed quotes of 8-1 from 16s with Coral for the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, while Paddy Power and Betfair offered 12-1.
