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Lead Artist landed the Group 3 Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes under a well-judged frontrunning Kieran Shoemark ride at Glorious Goodwood on Friday.
Shoemark made his intentions clear from the outset down in stall one and jumped straight into an early advantage on the lightly-raced son of Dubawi. The pace looked a genuine one throughout the early stages, with Roger Teal's Group 1 French Guineas (8f) runner-up Dancing Gemini and Native American both helping force the fractions in behind.
Ralph Beckett's King's Gamble emerged as a major threat once in the clear with a furlong to travel and although he was eating into the leader's advantage, Lead Artist and Kieran Shoemark were not for passing. The winning margin was three-quarters of a length, with King's Gamble's stablemate Task Force finishing a further half-length behind in third.
It was a second victory from four starts for Lead Artist, who impressed when taking a novice race at York in May before disappointing on soft ground in a one-mile Listed event at Newmarket last month.
"I think the key thing was that Tom [Marquand], drawn right beside us, whose horse went very strongly last time – he said to Keiran in the stalls that he was taking his horse back," said John Gosden. "When you are drawn one here and the cutaway is gone, you have to get out and get a position because it's the easiest place to get boxed in
"Kieran controlled the race and dominated it very well. The horse has improved greatly – he didn't like that ground at Newmarket, it was too soft – and hopefully, he's good enough to come back here for the Celebration Mile.
"He missed all of last year, so he started out in the Wood Ditton. He's very much a horse on an upward curve but the good thing is that we have August, September, and October, so plenty of racing to come. If he gets better and better, he could be a lovely four-year-old too."
Shoemark said: "The plan was to get a little bit of cover, but Tom Marquand said to me entering the gates that he was going to give Socialite a bit of a chance. I didn't want to get caught down on that rail with no cutaway today.
"I was scratching my head after the Listed race at Newmarket last time – it was a bizarre race, and I couldn't really analyse at all. I felt none of us particularly hit the line very strong that day, the ground was on the easy side, and I think it ultimately came down to that.
He added: "When he won the conditions race at York, I thought that he was quite special, so it's nice to see him get his Group success today. He's still very unexposed – he's a lightly raced three-year-old – so the future is bright."
