James Owen enjoyed the biggest success of his career when Wimbledon Hawkeye comfortably landed the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.
Just 24 hours on from claiming Listed honours with the talented dual-purpose Burdett Road, the same combination of Owen and Gredley was back in the winners' enclosure on the Rowley Mile.
James Owen's son of 2000 Guineas hero Kameko kept on strongly to finish third behind the hugely exciting Ancient Truth in the Superlative Stakes on the July Course before chasing home the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes-bound The Lion In Winter in the Group 3 Acomb Stakes at York.
Sent off a 4/1 chance on his first outing over a mile, Wimbledon Hawkeye travelled strongly in the hands of James Doyle, who was taking over from the suspended Silvestre De Sousa.
Doyle allowed his mount to stride on approaching the final furlong and with a smart turn of foot, James Owen's colt quickly put the race to bed. Andrew Balding's colt Royal Playwright set off in hot pursuit under Oisin Murphy, but the pair were never able to lay a glove on the eventual winner, who strode clear for a commanding length and a half triumph.
"Life's great, I'm really enjoying it, and I can't thank the Gredley family and my other owners enough, horses like this make it all worthwhile. He's a horse to dream of," said the winning trainer.
Paddy Power introduced the winner at 16/1 for the 2000 Guineas next year.
Owen added: "You'd have to be thinking of the Guineas; a mile is fine; he handles the track well and for me, he's a proper Guineas prospect. Whether he runs again this season, I don't see why not, we'll see how he is.
"He's in the Futurity at Doncaster, which is a possibility, or we could look to the Breeders' Cup.
"Whether he'd run in a trial, I don't know – I only had my first runner on the Flat in January, so I'm learning as I go. He was quick out of the gate, and travelled well, I thought for a minute he was going to over-race, but he was strong through the last furlong."
Owner Tim Gredley said: "I'd have thought America was unlikely, but we really hoped today would happen.
"We've always believed in him, there was more growing in him and hopefully he will develop into a Derby horse."
