Moore and Stoute team up again in evening feature with Autocratic

Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore notched their third victory in the last seven years in the Group 2 Brigadier Gerard Stakes as Autocratic weaved through rivals to score decisively at Sandown on Thursday evening.

Positioned in behind pacesetter and marketleader Chain Of Daises for much of the race, Moore was briefly short of room in between the last two furlongs but managed to find a gap between the fading leaders and came with a strong run to hold off the well supported Algometer by a length and a quarter.

The field was reduced to only seven runners after morning favourite So Mi Dar was taken out by John Gosden for the second time in a week – this time due to a blood analysis not being right – and what looked a competitive beforehand certainly proved that as five rivals had a chance entering the final furlong.

However, it was the proven stayers who came to the fore as both the winner and the second had already scored over 1m2½f and 1m3f respectively.

Autocratic, a four-year-old son of Dubawi, could finish only sixth of seven on his seasonal reappearance at Newmarket last month in a race won by Steel Of Madrid, but dramatically turned the form around with the Richard Hannon-trained second favourite as he failed to put his best foot forward and finished third.

Previously victorious in the race with Workforce (2011) and Carlton House (2012), connections will no doubt be hoping this lightly raced four-year-old can go on to achieve the same level of success and, given he is rated only 102, plenty of improvement looks forthcoming this season.

Result and analysis