Andrew Balding receives a trophy from Queen Camilla during his dominant day at the York Ebor meeting (Sporting Life Racing)
The Gaynor Rupert homebred Mehmas filly Machadadorp completed a memorable four-timer for Andrew Balding and a treble for Oisin Murphy on the second day of the York Ebor meeting when landing the concluding 7f fillies’ handicap.
Balding has landed both of the major Gr 1s at the festival so far, winning the Juddmonte International with Item on Wednesday and the Yorkshire Oaks with Kalpana today, both ridden by Colin Keane.
The three-year-old Machadadorp broke sharply and remained close to the leaders before moving into contention inside the final two furlongs. She passed the 18-1 shot Woohoo and pulled two and a half lengths clear to record her third career success in just six starts (and she has also had a second).
She is out of a Redoute’s Choice mare who had a Gr 3 third and a couple of Listed top three finishes.
Machadadorp had finished second in a competitive Newmarket handicap before finding the drop to six furlongs against her at Glorious Goodwood. This step up in trip on rain-softened ground brought her stamina back into play.
Her success took Balding’s prize-money haul for the afternoon to £525,820.
Balding’s dominant four-timer kicked off with a commanding success for The Lost King in the mile heritage handicap.
The 7-1 shot took over from the pacesetting Mirsky before pulling two and a half lengths clear of last year’s winner Bullet Point.
Balding’s four-year-old, who was progressive on the all-weather in the winter, reached a new level on turf when scoring over course and distance last month and defied a 6lb rise to strike again under Oisin Murphy.
Balding’s wife and assistant Anna Lisa said: “We weren’t sure he’d go on the ground, but Oisin said he loved it. It was a brilliant ride to go on in front and they never got near him.”
Murphy added: “The team have done a terrific job with him at home. We weren’t going crazy fast and the field didn’t really lay up with the leader. I managed to get a break on him and it was all quite smooth.”
There was drama at the start when 10-1 shot Checkandchallenge was left with no chance after trouble in the stalls, with jockey Callum Shepherd unable to remove the blindfold before the gates opened.
Kalpana won the next race and Balding’s outstanding run continued when Prizeland added a third consecutive race on the card for his Kingsclere team in the Listed Galtres Stakes.
Prizeland moved to the front in the home straight and quickly pulled clear under Murphy to win by three and a quarter lengths.
The 11-1 winner had arrived with stronger form than her lack of a victory on turf suggested. She had finished second in the Lingfield Oaks Trial in May before again filling the runner-up spot behind Superior Choice in the Listed Glasgow Stakes last month.
That Hamilton contest has produced subsequent Group 1 winners including Kalpana, Subjectivist and Defoe in recent years, and Prizeland built on her effort there when returning to competing against her own sex.
Her previous wins had come on the all-weather at Kempton and Lingfield and the cut in the ground appeared to bring further improvement.
Anna Lisa Balding said: “Oisin got off her and said that’s what she loves. We needed to get this Listed win under her belt.”
