Alenquer Wins Tattersalls Gold Cup Thriller

They say good things come to those who wait, but Tom Marquand did not have to wait long for his maiden winner on Irish soil, as he partnered Alenquer  to glory in a pulsating Tattersalls Gold Cup (G1) May 22 on his first ride in the country.

On a day when Alenquer's trainer, William Haggas, added a third German Two Thousand Guineas (G2) to his illustrious CV, the son of Adlerflug  responded to every urging of Marquand, who lifted his mount in the closing strides to prevail by a neck in a tremendous battle.

Although the market had Alenquer as the 7-2 third favorite, the form book provided plenty of pointers to suggest he could land a big blow in the €400,000 contest, and he became the fifth British-trained winner of this contest since 2013.

Last season's King Edward VII (G2) winner had beaten subsequent Cazoo Derby (G1) winner Adayar  in the Sandown Classic Trial last April, finished runner-up to Mishriff  in the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) and beaten Sunday's favorite Lord North  in the Betway Winter Derby (G3) in February. 

Alenquer had not been beaten far in the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1), and he certainly made amends here with a performance that saw him cut to around 6-1 for the Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot next month.

Maureen Haggas, representing winning trainer and husband William, said: "He was ridden beautifully by Tom. He knows him really well. He's a top-class jockey. The horse is hard as nails, the more you ask of him, the more he gives.

"He's always been a nice horse. He almost keeps surprising us a bit. I think the ground is important to him, I think a bit of dig in the ground is important. His top-class form is over a mile and a quarter, and today has proved it's his best trip."

The race took shape in the early exchanges as Ryan Moore set a blistering pace in front aboard High Definition , trying to stretch out his rivals, and with two furlongs to go many began to think it was another piece of riding genius as they were still in front.

Marquand got to work on Alenquer at the two-furlong pole, coming out of the pack alongside Frankie Dettori on Lord North, and the more questions he asked of his mount, the more they were answered. 

Shane Crosse and State of Rest  began to loom on the outside, High Definition rallied at the rail, but the Irish pair could not quite deal with the British raider.

Marquand, who was delayed en route to the Curragh, said: "It was great to get this lad in a scrap at the two pole, because there was only one way he was going to come out. Sometimes at home it's a bit of a pain that he loves a fight because he thinks it's all a game, but when he gets on the track, he takes it seriously.

"He's got some amount of ability, and the attitude to match, which is why he is winning a group 1.

"I'm not going to lie, an hour ago I didn't even know my way down to the start."

He does now, and certainly knew his way back.