KEVIN RYAN was thrilled with The Grey Gatsby after he gave Derby winner Golden Horn a severe test in the Coral Eclipse at Sandown.
The Hambleton trainer's four-year-old was conceding 11 pounds in weight to Frankie Dettori's Epsom hero but the clash of the generations looked set two furlongs from home with the pair neck-and-neck.
With more than £255,000 up for grabs to the winner, it was only in the final furlong that Golden Horn managed to shake off his rival on his way to a three-and-a-quarter length success.
Branding both runners "exceptional horses", Ryan said it would now be full steam ahead to his home track of York and the £850,000 Juddmonte International at the Ebor Festival next month.
Ryan said: "It was a great race, which the race deserves to be. I thought two (furlongs) down we had him, but he (Golden Horn) is an exceptional horse and he looked fantastic.
"We're very proud of our horse and I think now we'll just wait for the Juddmonte (International). I'd love to take him back to York, our home track. It gives us about six weeks. I think he deserves that now."
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