Coventry Stakes Result 2018: Calyx justifies big reputation

Though seemingly unfavoured by having to race with a slower group of horses on the near side, Calyx (2/1 favourite) showed a devastating turn of foot under Frankie Dettori to storm clear of his closest pursuers.

Advertise (10/1) and Sergei Prokofiev (3/1), who stayed on from off the pace, tried their best on the far side to close the gap but couldn't lay a glove on the impressive winner, eventually beaten a length and a neck, respectively

Calyx justifies the hype and wins the Coventry Stakes at @Ascot!

Watch LIVE on @ITV pic.twitter.com/aKBp8196ta

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) June 19, 2018

Gosden said: "Calyx is very talented. His father was exceptionally talented and Calyx has all of those attributes. I think the high draw might not be the best draw. In the Queen Anne, low numbers were first, second and third. The high draw was a disadvantage and I couldn't believe that Calyx hung on like he did. It was a tough ordeal for him to race on his own on just his second start. If he had horses to race with him, I think that would have been better. It was a big achievement for him to win having raced on his own and he is worth more than the winning margin of a length to say the least.

"We've won this race before but he does make you get up in the morning. Calyx has had to race on his own for the last two furlongs with a huge crowd screaming. That is a big ordeal for him and I think he did amazingly to win. I could have easily seen him getting distracted with nothing to race with.

Asked if Calyx is a 2000 Guineas horse, Gosden added: "I don't see why not. He is rateable and was relaxed enough early, but at the moment let's see if we can win a Prix Morny with him and then we will think about stepping up a bit later on. We'll freshen him up and go for the Prix Morny. He has done a lot of racing in 10 days.”

Dettori said: "My two lead horses kind of ran out of petrol, and Calyx was going so easily that I had to make my own way home because it is very hard to judge how close the other side are [the race split into two groups]. I thought I was about three lengths clear with a furlong to go, and he was getting a little bit tired. To be able to put the race to bed between the three [furlong pole] and the one [furlong pole] is pretty spectacular.

"I was in the race at Newmarket [Calyx's debut on June 9, which he won by five lengths] and was ultra-impressed. He's pretty special. He's still a bit green, a bit quirky, but he has a real natural talent. To do that second time out in the Coventry, you've got to be pretty special. He's a horse with a great cruising speed and a good kick - for them you want top of the ground."

Asked where Calyx would stand in the pantheon of top juveniles Dettori has ridden, he answered: "Lady Aurelia over five furlongs was sensational, but over six furlongs he is right up there."

Meade said of his runner, Advertise: "He's run a fantastic race, because he's a horse for another day. It's a bonus to be able to run him so early in the summer, and he will have learned a lot from that.

"Whether he was drawn on the right side or not doesn't matter now, but it's quite difficult if the runners split and you are racing away from the horse who is making the running. When it came to the race on our side of the track he did it well.

"He showed a bit of greenness, but what he did is the sign of a good horse - he's not just a two-year-old who came here for a day in the sun, but is a horse with a future.”