Opinion Poll won Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup despite steward’s skepticism on 20th august.
Thoroughbred Opinion Poll won the Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup on Saturday, 20th August, despite hard scrutiny by the stewards. Jockey Frank Dettori rode Opinion Poll across the track swiftly, winning the race by a margin of three and a half
lengths.
Opinion Poll had a tough battle with the thoroughbred Duncan, who had the lead for the first part of the race, but he managed to close the distance between them and then overtake him near the finish line.
Under Frank Dettori's firm hand, Opinion Poll managed to win £80,000 prize money.
Opinion line started in the fifth rank and took it easy for the first part of the race, but somewhere around the second bend of the race track, he shifted gears and started to close in on Duncan, ridden by Eddie Ahern.
After that it was a neck to neck competition between the two thoroughbreds with one leading the other and vice versa.
Just a few furlongs before the finish line, Frank Dettori pushed Opinion Poll to race harder all the way to the finish line, bringing him his third victory in a row.
A very happy Mahmood Al Zarooni, trainer of Opinion Poll, said, “He won this last year and likes the ground and the course”.
He further added that the next goal for Opinion Poll is to win the Group 2 race at Ascot on Champions Day.
Opinion Poll brought the hat-trick victory for Jockey Frank Dettori. Frank Dettori had been working hard towards achieving the three successive victories in the Ebor Festival that lasted four days.
Accrediting thoroughbred Opinion Poll for making his success possible, Frank Dettori said, “The great thing about Opinion Poll is that you know that he is going to try for you”.
Eddie Ahern, riding Duncan in the race, bumped Opinion Poll a couple of times that led to the stewards’ confusion about the winner in question.
Hence, the stewards called for a review of the thoroughbred crossing the finish line on Big Screen. It was the first time in the history of the racecourse at York that such a review had been requested.
However, it was routine since Opinion Poll did not win by a neck or a length even, in fact by a margin of three lengths, which says a good deal about the urging Frank Dettori must have had to do in the final lengths before the finish line.
After the spectacular Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup victory, all eyes are on the upcoming race at Ascot on Champions day.
Opinion Polls thrilling performance in this race has increased the expectations of everybody, manifold. Numerous wagers are likely to be placed on him in the next race.
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