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Juan Elcano left it late to win the Wolferton Stakes
Juan Elcano came with a rousing late run to win for the first time since his debut in the Wolferton Stakes.
Always highly regarded by Kevin Ryan, he finished fifth of 15 in Kameko’s 2000 Guineas but had seemingly failed to progress.
However, racing for the first time since a wind operation the son of Frankel once again showed what he was made of.
Sent off at 14-1, Juan Elcano looked to face a stiff task with two furlongs to run as there was still a wall of horses in front of him.
Tom Marquand had kicked clear by then on Joseph O’Brien’s Patrick Sarsfield and having had the run of the race he looked sure to oblige, only for Juan Elcano to sprout wings once in the clear.
Andrea Atzeni pushed him out with hands and heels to win by half a length, with Solid Stone, the 4-1 joint-favourite along with Patrick Sarsfield, back in third.
Ryan said: “We’ve always held him in the highest regard and he ran in some nice races as a three-year-old.
“This year I thought we had him back, but he disappointed first time out so we decided to tweak his wind – obviously it’s done the trick.
“He quickened up nicely today, he likes a nice pace to run at and got that today.”