Sulamani strikes for International glory

Sulamani landed his first victory of the season in great style by winning the Group One Juddmonte International Stakes at York.

Godolphin's five-year-old, a 3-1 chance, led close home in the hands of Frankie Dettori to nail Norse Dancer (16-1). Bago, the 13-8 favourite, was third.

The field was reduced to nine as Azamour was a late withdrawal because the ground was unsuitable.

Sulamani's pacemaker Millstreet was allowed an easy lead of about six lengths at one stage, with Solskjaer second and Norse Dancer third.

Millstreet led until two and a half furlongs out, where Norse Dancer, ridden by John Egan, made a brave bid for glory.

David Elsworth's much-maligned colt did not shirk the issue, knuckling down as Sulamani made his challenge, but he had to settle for second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner.

Bago ran on late without ever looking like lifting this prestigious prize for France and was a further three-quarters of a length away.

Sulamani was completing a quick double for his connections following Rule Of Law's win in the Great Voltigeur Stakes.

Mephisto prevails in Ebor thriller

Luca Cumani's reputation as the trainer to follow in Britain's big handicaps enjoyed another boost as he sent out the winner of the totesport Ebor for the second time with Mephisto at York.

But the canny Italian and all the 6-1 chance's backers were forced to endure an agonising 20-minute wait for the result to be confirmed in a stewards' inquiry.

The highlight of the week for most punters, the Ebor has seen plenty of thrills and spills since first being run in 1843.

But this contest will rank among the most dramatic after Mephisto and valiant runner-up Gold Ring (12-1) shared a memorable scrap throughout the final furlong which saw the lead ebb and flow until Mephisto finally prevailed on the line by a short head.

Royal Cavalier led the 19 runners in the early stages as the field went down the wide outside in search of better ground in the rain-softened conditions.

Always prominent, Gold Ring set sail for home under Steve Carson three furlongs out, but the challenges came in thick and fast in the shape of Fantastic Love, Defining and Self Defense.

However, Toby Balding's charge shrugged off those rivals only for Mephisto to appear on the outside having travelled well in midfield in the early stages under Darryll Holland.

Asked for everything, Mephisto took a narrow advantage but veered left and bumped into Gold Ring, who put his head back in front with the winning post in sight, only for Mephisto to regain momentum and snatch success with a final thrust.

The stewards had no option but to hold an inquiry into the incident before the placings were allowed to stand, and the longer it took for the result to come, the more the doubts began to creep into Cumani's mind.

" I don't mean to be rude, but you might not be talking to the winning trainer. I do not like how long this is going on for," he said in the winner's enclosure. But with the interference - for which Holland picked up a one-day ban (August 29) for careless riding - ruled not to have cost Gold Ring the race, the placings were left unchanged.