Notable Speech produced a brilliant performance to win the Boyle Sports Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, giving trainer Charlie Appleby and rider William Buick a deserved Group One success. Sent off the 2-1 favourite, the former 2000 Guineas winner and Breeders’ Cup Mile laureate looked in peak form as he cruised through the race and pulled clear in the closing stages.
Buick timed his run perfectly, moving into contention from the three-furlong pole and powering clear to score by two lengths from More Thunder, who ran a strong race for William Haggas. The result followed a mixed spell for the horse, who had been slightly unlucky at Keeneland after ending last season on a high with the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Appleby, who had enjoyed a double at Newmarket earlier in the week, praised the horse and his team: “He’s got some turn of foot. We were stood there watching thinking ‘I’m happy, as not many horses can quicken like he can’ and if it turned into a burn up in the last couple of furlongs then William is on the right horse.”
He added the connections had confidence in Buick’s handling and in the team back at Moulton Paddocks. “William knows him and has the confidence on him and I have the confidence in both of them. I always say to William you will either be a hero or a villain and sit and sit and when you want to go, sit again, and then at the last moment let him off. The team at home have done a great job, Colm O’Donoghue rides him and told me he’s in the form of his life and he was right. The team has done a fantastic job and I’m delighted for the horse as that’s a stallion making win for him.”
Looking ahead, Appleby confirmed Notable Speech will head to the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. “He will go on from here to the Queen Anne. We were unlucky in the Queen Anne last year and to be fair we’ve learned about this horse and I think knowing what we know now, we would have gone very close in the Queen Anne last year. Naturally he’s going to go straight there now. We’ll take Opera Ballo as well and it will be a big race for us, but I go there with Notable Speech more relaxed now that he has done that. All I wanted him to do was win another Group One in Europe and he’s done that now.”
Buick reflected on the ride and the horse’s late acceleration: “He has an explosive turn of foot and comes on the scene late and I thought he was exceptional today and felt amazing. It’s a great training performance from Charlie and the team to get him back here in good shape and it was a phenomenal performance. We went to Keeneland last time thinking we would win and never got a fair crack at it at all and it was frustrating. But we knew he was coming here in good shape and it’s always nice to correct those frustrating losses.”