Damysus Dazzles on the Rowley Mile

Damysus got his season off to the best possible start when leading home a one-two for Wathnan Racing in the G3 Earl of Sefton Stakes, beating King’s Gambit by three and three-quarter lengths.

Always travelling smoothly under James Doyle, the four-year-old Frankel colt extended impressively inside the final furlong to have his co-trainers John and Thady Gosden dreaming about bigger and better contests as the summer progresses. 

“He’s not a big horse, but he’s more powerful now and I think, as James said, when he asked him to go the acceleration was more instant,” said John Gosden. “He’s a maturer horse as a four-year-old and we’ll see where we go now – I think anything from a mile to a mile and a quarter is what James felt.

“We’ll watch the ground and look at the races – Group Threes, Group Twos and then look at the Group Ones. I wouldn’t be frightened of looking at something like the Prix d’Ispahan and then you get Royal Ascot and you have a race like the Prince of Wales’s. The great thing is that he has come out of winter quarters and is in good order.”

Unbeaten in his last three races, Damysus has now won four of his seven starts, including last season’s G3 Darley Stakes. 

James Doyle added, “I’ve always felt he is quite quick. He travelled powerfully and strong last year. When he won the Darley here, he won but not as I would have hoped.

“Today he showed he’s got gears. John and Thady have done a brilliant job in minding him and bringing him on slowly. Hopefully it’s paying dividends and he’s a stronger horse now. He’d been working like he was going to do something like that, so it is always nice when you back it up.”