Ombudsman sets up Daryz showdown with gutsy Brigadier Gerard win

Sandown Park staged Britain’s best evening race meeting of the season on Thursday 28th May, Star Sports Brigadier Gerard Evening, and the feature £95,000 Group Three Star Sports Brigadier Gerard Stakes was won by Ombudsman (John & Thady Gosden/William Buick, 2-5 Favourite). 

The now five-year-old son of Night Of Thunder was beaten into second in this contest one year ago, before he went on to register Group One triumphs later in the season at Royal Ascot (Prince Of Wales’s Stakes) and York (Juddmonte International). He ended 2025 with a rating of 128 in the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings, making officially the best horse trained in the UK last year.

Ombudsman came into today’s race having begun 2026 with victory in the Group One Dubai Turf over nine furlongs at Meydan in March. 

In today’s race he tracked the leaders before moving into the lead entering the final furlong. Carrying a 7lb penalty for being a Group One winner, he faced a sustained challenge from Gethin close home but was always on top and prevailed by a neck.

Successful joint-trainer John Gosden was very pleased with what he saw this evening, and Ombudsman is on track to try and defend his crown in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot next month. Star Sports make him 5-2 second favourite for the June 17th contest, behind French superstar Daryz (6-5).

Gosden said: “He hasn’t been on the grass since Meydan. We’ve had to train entirely on all-weather, so it’s the first time she’s seen grass Meydan. That’s how much we had a drought, we’ve had no rain at all. 

“He’s a bit of a pro now and does what he has to do. I thought it was a good performance giving 7lb and I thought the second ran a grand race. All in all, I am very happy and it is exactly what I expected. 

“He was coming here 85 per cent as a trial for Ascot and that will have put hm spot on. I couldn’t be more pleased with him. He’s a very cool customer now and does what he has to do, he is not too flashy anymore. Horses get old and wise like boxers.

“I think a lot of horses can peak at five but certainly I have found the more they race, the smarter they are and don’t waste a lot of energy.  

“I was delighted with him today and it was just what I wanted. Royal Ascot looks exciting with Daryz coming over. He looks a phenomenal horse, and we are looking forward to a proper Prince of Wales’s.

“Ombudsman is a bigger, stronger horse this year and I am delighted with how he has matured. I am not mad to go up to a mile and a half with him. There are so many good races at a mile and a quarter – it’s a beautiful distance I think, and I would like to stay at it with him.”

There was an upset in the longest race of the evening, the two-mile Group Three Star Sports Henry II Stakes, when 10-year-old Dubai Future (28-1) came out on top.

Godolphin’s Dubawi gelding was partnered by David Probert and was travelling well just in behind the leaders turning for home. Going to the front three furlongs out, he quickened away from his rivals. There was a strong late challenge from Sweet William (8-13 Favourite) inside the distance, but Dubai Future held on gamely for a neck success.

Winning trainer Saeed bin Suroor, who previously won the contest with Papineau (2004) and Fight Your Corner (2005), said: “We gave him a break after he ran out in Dubai. Last time at Ascot (when fourth in the Sagaro Stakes) he was 80-85 per cent ready. We thought he would improve for the race, and he came back really well.

“We thought this was the right race for him and I said to David don’t race him too early as it’s a two-mile race. I said to go on the outside and give him lots of light. He is doing well – he is a 10-year-old but still enjoying it. 

“Now we will take him to the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot again. I think his best trip is two miles – he was third in the Gold Cup last year over two and a half miles but still ran well. 

“He likes this ground – soft he doesn’t like. He’s easy to train and does whatever you ask him in the mornings.” 

The Royal blue silks of Godolphin were again in the winner’s enclosure when Talk Of New York (Charlie Appleby/William Buick, Evens Favourite) landed the mile Listed Star Sports Heron Stakes. Coming home the comfortable five-and-a-half lengths winner, the Wootton Bassett colt earned himself a step up to Group One company at Royal Ascot next month for the St James’s Palace Stakes.

Winning trainer Charlie Appleby said: “He has done very well. I have to say, it’s amazing to see what can happen when you give horses that bit of time. We saw him at the Craven Meeting, but we skipped the Guineas and came here. That was partly because we wanted to get him back on a turning track to teach him to get the mile well. Physically, he has just done so well because he wasn’t put in the Guineas picture where you have to maintain a level of training. 

“In the short break he had, he did well mentally and physically. We came with confidence today. They’ve gone a good gallop, but will Will said he was always confident he was going to get there. One thing he does do is quicken and he sustains it.

“The plan was hopefully to win here and go on to the St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot. With the three-year-old crop the way it is, I feel he deserves to have a crack at it now and take on the like of Bow Echo and Gstaad. Hopefully he will come out of this well and we can fill the tank up and head to Ascot.”

Where Love Lives (7-2) maintained his unbeaten record in the Listed Star Sports National Stakes over five furlongs when coming with a strong late run to score by half a length from Adaay Of Scarlett. The Kevin Ryan-trained two-year-old could now be Royal Ascot-bound. 

Winning jockey Kevin Stott said: “It just took me a bit of time to get there. This track finds them out a bit, and I had to get him rebalanced. 

“But he’s just tough and has got bags of speed. He is genuine. He is a bit of a boy but I got him down to the start nice and relaxed. He jumped a bit left, being drawn 8, but he was quick into stride. I really liked how he put his head down inside the final furlong.

“I can’t see why he wouldn’t be a Royal Ascot horse. He won his maiden very nicely and has gone and won this very nicely. He is a big horse and still learning. He’s got bags of speed and will take another step forward from this – he’s learned a lot.”