'He hit the line well enough to step up in trip' - Great Barrier Reef roars home in the Coventry to secure 12th win for Aidan O'Brien

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Aidan O'Brien landed the Coventry Stakes for a 12th time, but it did not go to market expectations as Great Barrier Reef extended his unbeaten record under Wayne Lordan.

Ryan Moore had a choice to make and sided with 2-1 favourite Confucius, but it was his stablemate who produced a power-packed finish to claim this Group 2.

• Aidan O'Brien delighted with 'not typical sprinter' Great Barrier Reef - but where does he sit in the Ballydoyle pecking order at home? 

The No Nay Never colt was successful on his debut at the Curragh, and also won the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes last month, but Moore opted for Naas winner Confucius of the two, leaving the winner to go off a 6-1 chance.

Breaking from stall three, Lordan was tracking the leader on the far side in a group of six horses before the two groups merged at the two-furlong pole. The winner found plenty to hit the front before drifting to his left and battling well to the line to fend off 40-1 chance Adaay Of Scarlett and Royal Heritage into second and third, while Confucius finished sixth.

The Coventry Stakes: won by Great Barrier Reef and Wayne LordanCredit: Patrick McCann

The second, third and fourth all came from double-figure stalls, while the winner was the only one from a low draw to make an impact. 

"He started rolling forward for me, and he was probably drifting a little left looking for company because I was out there on my own," said Lordan. "But I always knew he was running forward, and I had every chance. You never know till you pass the line in front, but I hit the line well.

"Because of where I was, I thought David Egan [on Bull Shark] was the only pace I had to follow, so I wanted to follow him and keep it simple. From halfway, I started coming forward, and he kept picking up all the way to the line. He feels like he hit the line well enough to step up in trip."

It was O'Brien's third win in the Coventry in the last four years after Gstaad and River Tiber scored in 2025 and 2023, while it was Lordan's first success in the 6f contest.

It was a sixth win at Royal Ascot for the man on board as he adds another big victory this season having already landed both the Newmarket and Irish 1,000 Guineas on True Love and Precise.

Lordan added: "Every time you come here for rides you're happy, especially when you win with your first ride at the meeting."

O'Brien noted in the aftermath that the winner could be one to step up to seven furlongs and a mile as a three-year-old and Paddy Power cut him into 12-1 (from 20-1) for the 2,000 Guineas next year.

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