Shayem (17/2) added another Stakes race to his collection as he upset 2/5 favourite Talk Of New York in the G3 HKJC World Pool Thoroughbred Stakes.
With three furlongs remaining of the mile contest, Clifford Lee sent his mount in pursuit of the pace-setting Catullus, leaving Talk Of New York and the chasing pack with significant ground to make up.
Shayem overhauled Catullus inside the final furlong and had enough in the tank to deny a strong-finishing Talk Of New York, who reduced the deficit to a half-length. Catullus (10/1) was two and a half lengths further back in third.
Successful in the Listed Silver Tankard Stakes at Pontefract last year, Karl Burke’s winner lined up following a comfortable victory in the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket.
Burke said: “We knew Billy [Loughnane] was going to go off at a nice gallop and Cliff was the only one really to keep tabs on him. Cliff is very good with his fractions. From three out, I could see we were closing and the others weren’t. I thought we had a great chance from there.
“Last year, you would have said that he was a soft-ground horse, but he has proven otherwise this year. We had no qualms about the ground or the track, as he handled the undulations at Newmarket well.
“Abdulrazaq [Mohamdi] will be delighted, as he is a homebred horse as well. He is a great supporter of ours from Dubai.
“There is a nice race at Kentucky Downs for him in September and one at Colonial Downs as well. I would imagine he will get an invite to one of those on the back of that. If we do not go there, we could come back for the Celebration Mile.”
Lee said: “We always thought quite a lot of him. He is almost a quiet horse at home, but he picks off some nice races, and he has done exactly that today. He was just beaten in the German Guineas and has run a fantastic race today.
“It went to perfection. I knew that Billy [Loughnane] was going to go forward, so I left him alone and just kept my lad in a nice rhythm. I had something to aim at in the last furlong; he has picked up and it was going to take a real good horse to beat me from where I was. He handled the track nicely and has done everything right today.”
Charlie Appleby, trainer of Talk Of New York and Catullus said: “At the top of the hill, I thought they would have to go a bit to get past the lead horse [Catullus] because he is no mug and he likes the track. Stretching to the mile was always going to be the undoing of Catullus. Stop the clock a furlong out and we were a comfortable winner.
“William [Buick] said himself, the front two stole a good march on him and they are two sensible horses. We knew that Catullus was not going to see the mile out eventually, but Will said, ‘I was only just getting rolling there the last furlong’.
“You asked me if Talk Of New York handled the track. Well, it is always hard having to quicken from where he was to make that ground up. I am not using the track as an excuse. I think the winner is sensible and improving. He has done everything right, got a nice lead from us and used it, rightly so, and we have gone and finished the race off.
“You could say, do we need to step up in trip? Possibly. But he has got to learn to settle a little bit as well. That first furlong he does want to be a little bit aggressive, but I do not think that was really the undoing of the race, to be fair. The pace was on and they were not coming back at the end of the day.”
Talk Of New York’s jockey William Buick said: “He relaxed after a furlong or so, and then the front two just stole a march.”
Billy Loughnane said of Catullus: “He ran a cracker. He is a horse who is improving. He is doing everything the right way, and he loves being ridden forwardly. He pricked his ears and ran very well.”