Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes
Group 2, York 15:00
£250,000 guaranteed,
3yo only,
1m 3f 188y, Class 1   
Wednesday 20th August 2025

BoyleSports

1 Pride Of Arras 12/1
2 Carmers 11/2
3 Arabian Force 10/1
7 ran Distances: 1l, shd, hd
Time: 2m 30.15s (slow by 1.25s)

Back on the Knavesmire, where his season once soared, Pride Of Arras rekindled the fire of his finest hour with a stirring success—while Lambourn, the dual Derby victor, sputtered when it mattered most.

Earlier in the campaign, Ralph Beckett’s colt had dazzled in the Dante, but the gloss dulled when he met Lambourn in both the Epsom and Irish Derbies, where Aidan O’Brien’s charge proved imperious. Yet on this sunlit afternoon at York, the tables turned.

Sent off at 12-1 and making his first appearance since being gelded, Pride Of Arras was given a patient ride by Rossa Ryan. Up front, Ryan Moore wasted no time in sending the 4-5 favourite Lambourn to shadow his Ballydoyle stablemate Thrice, who was tasked with setting the tempo.

But this wasn’t the Lambourn of early summer. The gears that had ground rivals into submission at Epsom and the Curragh failed to engage. As the field bunched ominously turning for home, it was Pride Of Arras who surged with purpose, slicing through the pack and quickening smartly to land the spoils by a length from Paddy Twomey’s unbeaten Carmers.

Lambourn faded into fifth, his aura dimmed, while Arabian Force stayed on stoutly for third, just ahead of Ballydoyle’s Stay True.

Ralph Beckett, candid and contemplative, reflected on the turnaround:

“He was back to his best, all good. I actually brought him here slightly underdone, having gelded him at the beginning of July, the week after the Irish Derby. It’s seven weeks on, but I’ve only really done maintenance stuff with him – I haven’t turned the screw with him – slightly because that seemed to suit him the last time we brought him here, and also because I wanted him to run well more than anything else. Really we came here with no expectation, but I think the track and the flat nature of York suits him really well. I wasn’t at all happy with the way he moved in the first half-mile at the Curragh, which isn’t exactly undulating anyway. He just wasn’t enjoying himself that day any more than he was at Epsom. After that it was a very easy decision to geld him. He’s never been difficult at home and it’s not just the gelding (that’s made the difference) as he suffers respiratory issues as well and that hasn’t helped. It certainly wasn’t helping in the spring and these things are never one specific thing, there’s always layers.”

With the St Leger and Arc now off the table due to his altered status, Beckett is casting his gaze further afield, with international ambitions bubbling to the surface.

“I think this place suits him, which sorts of gives us a steer and we’ll probably end up having to travel him, but I wouldn’t be averse to that as I think he’s a different horse now and you could see that today,” the Kimpton Downs handler added. “I would be tempted to think about California (Breeders’ Cup) and Hong Kong for him. I think the nature of those races will suit him really well.”

A gelding, a gamble, and a glorious return—Pride Of Arras may no longer be eligible for the autumn’s grandest prizes, but his path now stretches far beyond the British turf, with horizons as wide as his newfound stride.

Great Voltigeur Stakes (Group 2)
£250,000 guaranteed, 3yo only, 1m 3f 188y, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Good to Firm, Good in places

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY
1 (4)    Pride Of Arras 3 9-5 Ralph Beckett Rossa Ryan 12/1
2 (3) 1 Carmers 3 9-5 P Twomey Colin Keane 11/2
3 (7) shd Arabian Force 3 9-2 William Haggas Tom Marquand 10/1
4 (5) hd Stay True 3 9-2 A P O'Brien Wayne Lordan 11/1
5 (6) 1¾ Lambourn 3 9-7 A P O'Brien Ryan Moore 4/5F
6 (2) 3¼ Mount Kilimanjaro 3 9-2 A P O'Brien William Buick 17/2
7 (1) 2¼ Thrice 3 9-2 A P O'Brien Dylan Browne McMonagle 16/1