Military Order becomes the first horse to win the Winter Derby at Southwell.
Powerhouse trainer Charlie Appleby continued his excellent run of form when saddling one-time Epsom Derby joint-second favourite to success in its winter equivalent this afternoon.
A winner of the Lingfield Derby Trial on the all-weather last season, hopes were high for the son of Frankel as he headed into the Epsom showcase with just Arrest ahead of him in the market.
However, Military Order never looked content on the undulations of the Epsom Downs and eventually trailed home last of the fourteen runners. A similar fate would be in store as he failed to beat a rival home in the Listed Chester Stakes on his next outing and question marks were beginning to be raised about his future.
A subsequent gelding operation saw him bounce back to form when runner-up in the trial last month, but it was a performance that would need significantly bettering were he to starve off last year's winner and four-time Group 1 scorer Lord North.
Forest Of Dean ensured there would be no hiding place over the one-mile three-furlong trip but his front-running display soon petered out turning for home and it quickly became apparent the two big guns in the market had it between them.
With William Buick in action out in Saudi Arabia, Danny Tudhope was the man entrusted with the steering on the classy four-year-old. Tudhope sent his mount for home at the two-furlong pole and although the 5/4 favourite Lord North looked a threat down the straight, Military Order (9/4) found plenty, eventually running on strongly to score by a length.
Tudhope told Sky Sports Racing: "He travelled great into the race and probably got there too easy. He might have just let me down but today we had a nice pace to aim at.
"He's a proper horse this fellow and he's always been highly thought of. That was nice.
"He's probably a little bit cute and I said to Charlie, I'd ride him a bit quieter today. He'd obviously improved for his run as well.
"An extra furlong would be no problem, he's a lovely, big horse."
John Gosden, who trains Lord North in partnership with his son Thady, said: "They did a wonderful job with him at Wood Ditton Stud (when injured), a lady called Geraldine looked after him.
"He's come here at 80 per cent and he's running over a a lot further than he wants – a mile and three is not his game – but I'm absolutely delighted with him. He's run a lovely race, enjoyed his day out, he's having a blow, and it will set him up lovely for Dubai.
"It was super run, Rab (Havlin) looked after him well, the winner had had a race and outstayed him. I'd have loved it to have been over a mile and a quarter."
