'I thought it was easier to throw it away!' - Docklands jockey drops whip but still denies Rosallion in a photo-finish thriller

Docklands bounced back to go one better and cause a 14-1 shock as he narrowly denied Rosallion in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes.

Trained by Harry Eustace and ridden by Mark Zahra, last year's runner-up battled it out to the line alongside Rosallion and came out on the right side of a photo-finish, despite his jockey dropping his whip.

The opening contest sparked into life with two furlongs remaining as Lead Artist, Dancing Gemini and Quddwah led as the pace picked up, but Docklands, who finished two and a quarter lengths behind Charyn 12 months ago, and Rosallion both hit the accelerator button and charged to the line.

Although Zahra parted ways with his whip, he did just enough to hold off the 5-2 favourite by a nose, with 100-1 shot Cairo the nearest challenger back in third for Alice Haynes.

The Charlie Appleby-trained Notable Speech never appeared to get going as he finished fourth, while Lead Artist and Dancing Gemini were tailed off in seventh and eighth respectively.

The photo-finish between Docklands (far side) and Rosallion

What the winning trainer said

Harry Eustace: "It's pretty sweet, but I've lost my voice. I thought it was tough to watch and a photo-finish is tough, but he deserves to be in this because he's an absolute legend for us. If ever there's a track where you want a specialist, it's here. It's the best racing.

"The work and the effort of everyone back home is the reason we're still here, and I can't thank them enough. He's an absolute star. He loves being a racehorse and he's very competitive.

"I can't thank Terry [Henderson] and OTI enough. He got offered a huge amount of money after he won the Britannia Stakes, but they wanted to enjoy a good racehorse and roll the dice, and hopefully it's paid off."

What the winning rider said

Mark Zahra: "Everyone kept scaring me about the whip rules, I thought it was easier just to throw it away at the 200!

“The race was very slow and I just kept creeping as much as I could. We got the room at the right time and he burst through, and he just kept responding. 

“I’m making the most of it and what an amazing feeling."

Race in images

Docklands and Rosallion went toe-to-toe heading towards the lineCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Docklands got the call by the narrowest of margins

Mark Zahra celebrates his victory on Docklands, which came despite losing his whipCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Ante-post reaction

Docklands was cut into 16-1 (from 40) with Paddy Power for the Group 1 Qatar Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood next month.

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