Champion English colt Workforce returned to racing with a stylish victory in the G3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes (2000m) at Sandown on Thursday evening.

Bookmakers immediately trimmed him to an equal 9-4 favourite for the Eclipse Stakes with Coolmore star So You Think.

Workforce (4c King´s Best – Soviet Moon by Sadler´s Wells) scythed down front-runner Poet (Pivotal) with a fluent finish to score by a length first-up.  Third home Jan Vermeer (Montjeu) was 11 lengths away.

Workforce was sent off the even-money favourite despite giving his rivals weight and being in need of a run.  “He never felt like he’d get beaten at any stage,” winning jockey Ryan Moore said.  “He hasn’t been asked to do much at home and I’ve hardly had to ask much of him here.”

Workforce became just the sixth horse to sweep the English Derby – Arc de Triomphe double last year.  He won the Epsom classic by seven lengths in record time but had to survive a protest in the Arc after defeating Japanese raider Nakayama Festa by a head at Longchamp

Workforce is by Darley sire King’s Best from an unraced sister to English St Leger winner Brian Boru.  He gave Khalid Abdullah a fourth Arc win following Rainbow Quest, Dancing Brave and Rail Link.

The Juddmonte Farms owner-breeder also races boom colt Frankel.

His sire King’s Best shuttled to Australia for three seasons until 2004.  A Group 1 winning son of Kingmambo, he has a winning strike-rate of 55% in Australia & NZ but didn’t sire a single stakes winner down here.