Having already established himself as a major force at Godolphin, Ombudsman will get the chance to close out a stellar career on the global stage during the Japan Cup later this month.
The son of Night Of Thunder was not sent forward for the Breeders’ Cup after winning the Champion Stakes, but he will now contest a mile and a half for the first time in Tokyo on November 29 before preparing for stallion duties at Darley’s Kildangan Stud in Ireland in 2027.
Whatever happens in the Far East, Godolphin’s managing director, Hugh Anderson, believes Ombudsman’s legacy is secure and that he will rank among the best ever to represent Sheikh Mohammed’s operation on the track.
He told the Press Association: “John is a master trainer and has obviously got his eye very firmly on this prize. It’s very exciting.
“Ombudsman’s career has been a model of its kind and he has been beautifully trained. John really took his time with him both as a two-year-old and a three-year-old, and what rewards we reaped as a result were considerable.
“There have been many great racehorses in Godolphin’s history, but Ombudsman is one of the best because of the quality of the Group One races he has won.
“There is a pecking order in this sport, and there are not many horses ahead of two Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Juddmonte International Stakes and a Champion Stakes. He is right up there.”
Ombudsman is likely to face his former rival and defending champion, Calandagan, in Japan as the five-time Group One winner seeks to become the first British-trained winner since Alkaased 21 years ago and also claim the $5million bonus available to him after his recent Ascot triumph.
Calandagan could meet Ombudsman again in Tokyo
The Clarehaven star proved too much for Francis-Henri Graffard’s globetrotter on Champions Day, and although the Sheikh Mohammed-owned Singspiel tasted Japan Cup glory in 1996, it would become the first horse to win the Group One in Godolphin silks if it were to repeat that feat in Asia.
The outcome would cap a strong year for the global operation, which has recently seen Sovereignty give Godolphin its first Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland, backed by a strong finish to the European season and offering plenty of optimism for 2027.
“The Breeders’ Cup Classic really was something, and like Ombudsman, Sovereignty is out there in a class of his own,” Anderson continued.
“He has won two of the major international races that had not previously been won by Godolphin or His Highness – the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. For one horse to do both is seriously impressive, and he will be a fabulous stallion.”
He went on: “The year is ending strongly, and I have been on record saying it was a little flat earlier in the year – and it was always going to be difficult to match the quality of last year, but we have finished well.
“The two-year-olds have been very good this year, and I think Charlie Appleby has shown how good a trainer he is by bringing along the likes of Talk Of New York to win a Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at the end of the season.
“He is going to be an exciting older horse, and while there are the likes of Ombudsman and Notable Speech moving off the roster, he is one to take the operation onwards next year alongside the likes of Opera Ballo and some very good two-year-olds. I’m very optimistic about 2027.”