by Myra Lewyn

George Strawbridge Jr.’s homebred Lucarno finished off the board in his first two starts of 2008, but on Thursday at Newmarket was unstoppable on the July course as he racheted up his effort several notches with a front-running victory in the Princess of Wales’s Wbx.com Stakes (Eng-G2).

Lucarno broke sharply under Jimmy Fortune, opened a clear lead, and set a steady pace throughout 1 1/2-mile race. Fortune guided him to the far side rail in the straight before rallying the bay Dynaformer colt, who willingly responded and coasted across the finish line 1 1/4 lengths clear of 2007 Princess of Wales’s victor Papal Bull.

Lucarno, an English classic winner last season, covered the distance in 2:33.37 on good to soft turf.

Papal Bull, who encountered traffic 2 1/2 furlongs out, finished 1 3/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher Petara Bay.

Trainer John Gosden was pleased with the performance of Lucarno, whom he said is just now hitting his stride after a pair of lackluster outings to begin the year.

“He is a horse who thrives on racing, and he did very well through the winter,” Godsen told England’s Press Association. “He is a huge bull of a horse and has taken a while to get back in the groove, and he is just finding his way back. “

Lucarno won four of his eight starts last season and finished fourth in both the Vodafone Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) and Princess of Wales’s before notching consecutive victories in the Ladbrokes Great Voltigeur Stakes (Eng-G2) in August at York and Ladrokes St. Leger (Eng-G1) in September at Doncaster to cap the year. His St. Leger win provided his Pennsylvania-based owner and Fortune with their first triumph in a British classic.

After an eight-month layoff, Lucarno made his four-year-old debut in the Betfair Brigadier Gerard Stakes (Eng-G3) on May 29 at Sandown Park and finished 11th. He finished sixth behind Youmzain in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (Fr-G1) on June 29 before his breakthrough win on Thursday.

“He is coming back to himself but is not quite where I want him,” Gosden said, adding that future races could include the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Eng-G1) on July 26 at Ascot and the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) on October 5 at Newmarket.

Pennsylvania-bred Lucarno, who has won five of 11 career starts, is out of the Diesis (GB) mare Vignette.

Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times Today editor