THE weather may not have been perfect, but the 12,109 racegoers who attended Al Shaqab Lockinge Day at Newbury witnessed racing of the highest class.

Godolphin won the two biggest races of the day impressively, the feature Group One Al Shaqab Lockinge, worth £350,000, with the 7/4 favourite Ribchester, trained by Richard Fahey, and the £100,000 Group Three Al Rayyan Stakes with another market leader, the Charlie Appleby-trained Hawkbill, who started at 3/1. Both were ridden by William Buick, a 10/1 double.

Ribchester produced a decisive all-the-way success in the first British Group One race of the season for older horses, run over the straight mile.

The Richard Fahey-trained colt, successful over the same trip in the Group One Jacques Le Marois last season, broke smartly and immediately led for William Buick as stable companion and intended pacemaker Toscanini (Paul Hanagan) missed the break.

The four-year-old son of Iffraaj quickened well under Buick to open up a clear advantage passing the two-furlong marker and soon had the rest of his rivals in trouble, despite drifting right to the stands’ rail, with only Lightning Spear (David Simcock/Oisin Murphy, 9/2) able to mount any serious challenge.

After straightening up inside the final furlong, Ribchester ran on again for to score impressively by three and three quarter lengths over Lightning Spear in 1m 43.00s, with another two and a half lengths back to the third home Breton Rock (David Simcock/Andra Atzeni, 25/1).

Al Shaqab Racing’s Galileo Gold (Hugo Palmer/Frankie Dettori, 9/2) had drifted in the betting and raced very keenly towards the stand’s side in second. He was taken wide by his rider to try and settle but weakened to fifth inside the final furlong.

Somehow (Adrian O’Brien IRE/Ryan Moore, 100/30) was the best backed in the race but the four-year-old filly could only stay on for fourth.

Buick declared: “Ribchester is a very good horse and very versatile. Richard and the team at home have done a fantastic job. He ran so well out in Dubai, where things probably didn’t quite work out for him, and he is just getting mentally better and physically stronger with every day that goes by.

“You would have to be very happy with that performance. He was in front the whole way basically and the ground is very testing. I am very, very happy to ride him.

“If you are going to compete in these races and be successful, you have to be the complete package. The team at home have helped him become the complete package, which he is now.

“Sheikh Mohammed loves to win Group One races, he loves good horses, and this is what it is all about.”

It was a third consecutive victory for Godolphin in the mile contest, which is part of the IPCO British Champions Series, following on from Night Of Thunder (2015) and Belardo (2016), and eighth win in total.

Simcock, trainer of the second and third, remarked: “I am very proud of both of them – they ran really, really well.

“Lightning Spear did get tired in the last half-furlong because of the round and it being his first run of the year.

“We were beaten by an exceptionally good horse, who probably did have a fitness advantage over us.

“Breton Rock has probably run to his best mark and he is a lovely horse to have around.”

Palmer, trainer of Galileo Gold, said: “It was a disappointing performance by Galileo Gold who got a bit lonely racing wide of the others.

“We will keep to the plan of going for the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot and then the Qatar Sussex Stakes.”

Dettori added: “Galileo Gold did not like the ground at all – it was very testing.

“He was fresh and I knew he wasn’t going to finish. I stayed away from the others, otherwise he would have been beaten further. It was one of those things – it rained and it can’t be helped.”