Roger Charlton’s Decorated Knight better than Sandown Coral-Eclipse run
Charlton's five-year-old is a dual Group 1 winner but nothing went his way at Sandown on Saturday in the Coral-Eclipse and he suffered significant interference in the race
ROGER CHARLTON is keen to put a line through Decorated Knight's "frustrating" run in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday.
The five-year-old suffered interference not once but twice in last weekend's feature event and although he hit the front in the straight, he eventually weakened to finish sixth of seven runners.
The prize went to Sir Michael Stoute's Ulysses, who was one place behind Decorated Knight at Ascot last month.
Charlton told At The Races: "It was rather frustrating.
"I think we all assumed Taj Mahal was there to encourage the pace a bit and I felt that having got to the front without too much problem, he actually didn't set a good enough pace for any of the horses, including the favourite (Cliffs Of Moher).
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"Eminent was pulling very hard and we knocked into Cliffs Of Moher. He snatched up and we snatched up and it was very messy.
"In the straight we were interfered with again by Eminent trying to come across and trying to bite us.
"I felt we probably got to the front a bit too soon. We were arguably left in front with two furlongs to run and you're left pretty vulnerable at Sandown.
"For a second, one thought we were going to win, but then you saw Ulysses travelling very well and in the end we didn't quite last home.
"It was a race to rule out as far as I'm concerned. We'll put a line through it and move on."