MUSIR (Christophe Soumillon) slammed his rivals to land the valuable Topkapi Trophy in Istanbul on Sunday, the Group 2 highlight of the two-day Istanbul Festival of International Racing.

Frankie Dettori and Godolphin’s Invisible Man just got up to take second place in the €459,000 event from German-trained Indomito.

Winner of the UAE Guineas and Derby at Meydan in 2010, Musir was seventh in the Dubai World Cup before coming third in Hong Kong’s Champions’ Mile.

Having shaped with promise after a layoff in the Hungerford Stakes, the five-year-old son of Redoute’s Choice was a hot favourite with British bookmakers for Sunday’s Turkish feature and duly proved far too good for his rivals.

Musir, who has spent the summer at De Kock’s Newmarket base, was always travelling well within himself in mid-division before he willingly made up the deficit to hit the front early in the straight, after which the outcome was never in doubt.

Dream Eater, runner-up to Pressing in the last two runnings, was never able to mount a serious challenge and could only just stay on to just miss the places in a race where the locals once again faced an unequal task.

In four international races over the weekend, not a single Turkish-trained horse made the frame in what became a benefit for overseas visitors with two victories for Britain and one each for Germany and South Africa. – racingpost.co.uk.

Video replay link here.

Further report to follow.