Ombudsman will bow out in the Japan Cup in Tokyo on Sunday 29 November, before heading off to stud. John Gosden, who trains the Godolphin star with son Thady, gave an update on Tuesday morning and said: “Ombudsman is very well in himself, still has his summer coat and the plan is to take him to the Japan Cup for which he has to ship on November 18.” One of Devil’s Advocate or Fifth Column will travel with him.
The son of Night Of Thunder skipped the Breeders’ Cup after his scintillating Champion Stakes success at Ascot last month. Gosden explained: “We didn’t want to put him on a plane just seven days after Ascot which is why he missed the Breeders’ Cup. We started him early in the year to go to Dubai but we’ve spaced his races throughout the year and I think he has benefited from it.”
Ombudsman has won 10 of his 14 starts and is rated 133. He has landed the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot twice and the Juddmonte International at York in 2025. His first Prince Of Wales’s win showed his class, as he was repeatedly denied a clear run before quickening to win going away.
The Champion Stakes may have been the best of the lot, though. Beaten by Calandagan in the race 12 months earlier, he turned the tables in style under William Buick, quickening clear inside the final furlong. It was the perfect response to a below-par fourth in the Juddmonte International in August.
Following in Calandagan’s footsteps
European raiders have found the Japan Cup a tough nut to crack, but Calandagan showed it can be done 12 months ago. Francis-Henri Graffard’s star became the first European-trained winner of the race for 20 years.
Ombudsman will be tackling a mile and a half for the first time, against a home team that usually includes Japan’s best middle-distance horses. Gosden is hopeful the track will suit, saying: “We’ll see but it’s a flat track with many bends and he has always finished off his races well.” He added that a downpour could be the one concern: “If they suddenly got a huge amount of rain it might change things, which can happen, but it’s hard to read weather patterns these days.”
Ombudsman is now bidding to become the first British-trained winner since Alkaased, who won for Luca Cumani in 2005. His Champion Stakes success also qualified him for a $5 million bonus if he can follow up in Tokyo, and Gosden was clear about what comes next: “This will be his last run and he’s off to stud after this trip.”
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