Ryan Moore came with a strong late run on Persica to land the Group 3 Betfred Diomed Stakes at Epsom on Derby day.
Richard Hannon's four-year-old was highly-tried last time out in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and he appreciated the drop in class to run out a well-backed 6/4 winner.
It looked as though Ice Max might've slipped the field under Clifford Lee at the furlong pole but Moore was soon bearing down on him and he got there to the tune of three-quarters-of-a-length.
Ice Max held on for second with Docklands catching the eye running on down the centre of the track in third.
Ryan Moore said: “He’s run some very good races. He was a good winner at Newmarket at the start of the year. The ground is important to him and he had conditions in his favour, he carried a penalty, he’s put away some good horses there.”
Hannon said: “He’s one of those horses that it’s a pleasure to turn up with - he’s a good-looking horse, belongs to the right people and has a chance in any race. Knowing his connections, they’ll want to go to the Japan Cup, the Breeders’ Cup, Australia…! We’re happy - Ryan’s always said to ply our trade around this level, and I think he’s dead right. He might make the occasional jump up on the back of a race like this, but he has a chance in any race on this ground.
“Ryan said he thought he struggled coming down the hill a little bit. I didn’t have the guts to tell him he came here last year and was fine… It’s a Group Three and at this level, he’s capable of winning right through the year. Looking forward, we’ll just follow the ground around. He’s a different horse on that.”
Karl Burke, trainer of the second Ice Max, said: “He’s a bit of a hard one to place as he needs soft ground, and I just think he was in front half a furlong too soon there. If the leader had led us a bit further he would have just sat, but he committed and took a length out of the winner and then just got outstayed. A shame, but he ran well.”
Harry Eustace, trainer of third-placed Docklands, said: “It’s frustrating because he’s just at that level where everything has to go absolutely right for him, and it just didn’t quite. He just got in a pocket and he doesn’t quicken - he lengthens. The winner and the German horse just kept us in a bit longer than Richard (Kingscote) would have wanted, but I can’t give any real excuses as they’ve obviously gone a nice fair gallop and everyone’s had a chance.
“He’s a legend of a hose for us and that’s another good run. He’ll definitely go back to Ascot for the Queen Anne [second last year] as that’s always been the plan, but this year it’s a much deeper race than last year. It’s nigh on the race of the week and he’ll go there sort of 20/1, but he loves the track. He could run his absolute guts out and finish fourth.”
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