Solow soars in Queen Elizabeth II clash

Solow has now won five Group 1s in 2015. Image courtesy of Racingfotos.com

A much-anticipated clash between the Freddy Head-trained Solow and Aidan O’Brien’s crack three-year-old miler Gleneagles was won in decisive fashion by Solow as Gleneagles failed to run up to his best, coming home in sixth.

Solow was sent off as a well-backed 11/10 favourite, and Freddy Head’s prolific winner didn’t let his backers down, responding well for pressure to forge ahead inside the final furlong.  Belardo finished strongly to grab second, three-quarters of a length adrift of Solow, with Gabrial a further length and a half back in third.  

Maxime Guyon settled Solow in third place early on as last year’s Racing Post Trophy winner Elm Park cut out a moderate early gallop, with the progressive Kodi Bear splitting the pair. Elm Park and Kodi Bear briefly looked to have the favourite in trouble as they kicked for home with a couple of furlongs to run, but Solow stuck to his task determinedly, edging to the front just inside the furlong pole and always doing enough to deny the strong-finishing Belardo.

Solow progressed well last season, winning five of his six starts – the one defeat came over a near two-mile trip – and he has upped his game further this term, successful on all six outings in 2015. Solow is a tremendously likeable, consistent top-class performer, and is now a five-time Group 1 winner, though it’s unlikely his Timeform master rating of 130 will change on the back of this success, his four-and-a-quarter length defeat of The Grey Gatsby in Dubai still his best performance on the figures.

Delighted winning trainer Freddy Head said: “He’s very special. He’s easy to train and does whatever you want at home”.

Head also confirmed that Solow – a gelding – will be kept in training next season and his first major target will be again be the Dubai Turf.