ROYAL ASCOT

DAY 1

THE QUEEN ANNE STAKES, GR 1

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ccidental Agent’s victory in the Group One Queen Anne Stakes was a first Group One and a first Royal Ascot triumph for trainer Eve Johnson Houghton. The four-year-old, who was bred by Johnson Houghton’s mother Gaie, was a surprise 33/1 winner who came late to beat the David O’Meara-trained Lord Glitters by half a length. He was a first Royal Ascot winner and a first Group One winner for jockey Charlie Bishop. Johnson Houghton, whose father Fulke trained 10 Royal Ascot winners between 1965 and 1988, said: “Unbelievable! I still can’t believe it. I haven’t slept for two nights. I dreamt that he would be third. My mum bred Accidental Agent – we have got the mare in the field – but nobody wanted to buy him
and we bought him back for eight grand. The poor people sitting in front of me and my Mum – I apologise to them – they will definitely be deaf because there was an awful lot of screaming going on. It is just ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. He is the first foal out of the mare Roodle, by Delegator. No-one wanted him. The horse is named after my grandfather, John Goldsmith, who wrote the book [Accidental Agent: Behind Enemy Lines with the French Resistance] and was in the SOE [Special Operations Executive] and an incredibly brave man. He was a trainer as well.”
Jockey Charlie Bishop entered the big time when riding Accidental Agent to victory as it became Bishop’s first success at Group One level and was also his initial win at the Royal Meeting.
David O’Meara was delighted with the performance of 20/1 chance Lord Glitters who finished a half-length second to 33/1 shot Accidental Agent in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes, the first race of Royal Ascot. The five-year-old son of Whipper made eyecatching headway in the closing stages of the mile contest under Jamie Spencer, but was caught late on by Accidental Agent, trained by Eve Johnson-Houghton. The David Simcock-trained Lightning Spear (10/1) ran another fine race in defeat in G1 company, finishing a neck behind Lord Glitters in third under Oisin Murphy. Newmarket handler Simcock commented: “Lightning Spear has run really well again, but he does seem to sometimes flatten up the hill here as he hasn’t sustained his run. He hit the front, but found it a long way home.” American challenger Yoshida, trained by Bill Mott, travelled well into contention before flattening out to finish a creditable fifth in the mile contest.

THE COVENTRY STAKES, GR.2

[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ewmarket trainer John Gosden registered his 44th winner at the Royal Meeting after Calyx justified the hype and 2/1 favouritism to provide his sire Kingman, also trained by Gosden, with a first Group success in the G2 Coventry Stakes. Ridden by Frankie Dettori, recording his 57th triumph at Royal Ascot, the two-year-old took up the lead in isolation towards the stands’ side rail and kept on well in the closing stages of the six-furlong contest to score by a length from the fast-finishing Advertise (10/1), trained by Martyn Meade, in second.
Gosden was effusive in his praise of Calyx following the race, describing the colt as “a horse that makes you get up in the morning.” Calyx made his debut just 10 days ago when making a winning debut at Newmarket by five lengths under Robert Havlin. Gosden said: “Calyx is very talented. His father was exceptionally talented and Calyx has all of those attributes. I think the high draw might not be the best draw. In the Queen Anne, low numbers were first, second and third. The high draw was a disadvantage and I couldn’t believe that Calyx hung on like he did. It was a tough ordeal for him to race on his own on just his second start. If he had horses to race with him, I think that would have been better. It was a big achievement for him to win having raced on his own and he is worth more than the winning margin of a length to say the least. We’ve won this race before but he does make you get up in the morning.” Asked if Calyx is a 2000 Guineas horse, Gosden added: “I don’t see why not. He is rateable and was relaxed enough early, but at the moment let’s see if we can win a Prix Morny with him and then we will think about stepping up a bit later on. We’ll freshen him up and go for the Prix Morny. He has done a lot of racing in 10 days.
Frankie said: “My two lead horses kind of ran out of petrol, and Calyx was going so easily that I had to make my own way home because it is very hard to judge how close the other side are [the race split into two groups]. I said to myself, I have to go now, there is nothing carrying me into the race, I have got to go.’ In that respect, it was marvellous and he is probably value for more than the winning distance. Calyx is a bit of show-off. I had to give him a bit of time. His father never ran until July whereas this boy has been out in June.”
Advertise (10/1), a son of stallion Showcasing, was beaten a length by favourite Calyx, but he finished a neck in front of Sergei Prokofiev (3/1) from Aidan O’Brien’s stable, with Vange in fourth. Meade said of his runner, Advertise: “He showed a bit of greenness, but what he did is the sign of a good horse – he’s not just a two-year-old who came here for a day in the sun, but is a horse with a future.

KING STAND STAKES,GR.1

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]resh from the success of Masar in the Investec Derby, owner Godolphin, trainer Charlie Appleby and jockey William Buick teamed up to land the G1 King’s Stand Stakes with 6/1 shot Blue Point. The four-year-old son of Shamardal travelled kindly throughout the five-furlong contest and ran on strongly in the closing stages to score by a length and three-quarters from 9/4 shot Battaash, trained by Charlie Hills, who had made the running. Blue Point finishing third in the Commonwealth Cup at the 2017 Royal Meeting, but was a disappointing ninth on his latest start at Sha Tin, Hong Kong, in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize in April.
Appleby, registering his fifth success at the Royal Meeting, said: “Full credit has to go to the team at home who have done a fantastic job with Blue Point and getting him back to where he is. To have a Derby winner and then have a winner at Royal Ascot is great. I think the stiff five furlongs and strong pace has suited him here. Whilst things didn’t materialise on Dubai World Cup night, we went on to learn a lot in Hong Kong.”
Sheikh Mohammed, Godolphin’s owner, said: “Blue Point was following the fast pace and was travelling very well. He hit the rise and gave more. We raced him in Dubai and he was sweating very much but today he was very, very good. After Masar and the Derby, we are taking it very easy. We are enjoying ourselves and Royal Ascot – whoever wins, we will clap for them. We are relaxing now, but we have some ammunition for the rest of the week.”
Battaash made much of the running, and had the American filly in trouble approaching the furlong-marker – she eventually faded into seventh – but the William Buick-ridden winner emerged from the pack to chase down the leader and pull clear in the final 5o metres for victory by one and three-quarters of a length.
Battash, the 9/4 second favourite, finished second by a length and three-quarters. The Charlie Hills-trained Dark Angel four-year-old had his head in front in the closing stages of the race under jockey Jim Crowley, but was passed in the last seconds by Blue Point. Third by a neck at 20/1 was the Dutch Art filly Mabs Cross, trained by Michael Dods and ridden by Paul Mulrennan. Lady Aurelia, last year’s winner, was sent of the 2/1 favourite but came back in seventh place. John Velazquez, rider of the American challenger, reported: “We broke really well but when I asked her quicken she stayed really flat today. She didn’t have the kick that she normally does. Wesley Ward, trainer of the Scat Daddy four-year-old filly, added: “I think Johnny (Velazquez) summed it up, we were right there. She trained beautifully coming into the race. She is older and seasoned so I just don’t know. She gave us some great moments.

ST JAMES’S PALACE STAKES, GR.1

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]rainer John Gosden’s St James’s Palace Stakes victory with Without Parole was his 45th Royal Ascot winner, his second in the mile Group One race for three-year-olds (Kingman took it in 2014) and his second of the day. Without Parole, a son of Frankel and ridden by Frankie Dettori, was the 9/4 favourite and beat the fast-finishing Gustav Klimt by half a length. He is owned and bred by John and Tanya Gunther, who bred American Triple Crown winner Justify.
Gosden said: “US Navy Flag had gone, and Frankie said, ‘I had to go after him – I was frightened he had got three lengths, and in the end I went a bit soon’. Then of course with Aidan [trainer of both US Navy Flag and Gustav Klimt] there is another arrow at your back – there always is another arrow. But look, Without Parole is a grand horse. There were no hiding places in that race. It was proper, proper Group One pace. I think he is still on the up and still learning. At the moment he has a bigger middle than me, which is not a good thing in a racehorse! I think he could stay at a mile or go up. I think he was green on the bend and Frankie was having to say, ‘come on old boy, come on old boy’. He’s so lazy at home. I’ve never seen a horse eat and sleep like it, which is a great, great thing in a racehorse. I think he will improve, he’ll get sharper and I think he will get a little further too.”
Owner/breeder John Gunther said: “It is a dream come true. In all the 20 years I have been coming to Royal Ascot, my dream was just to have a horse run at Royal Ascot. Then we start in a Group One and do it; I don’t know what to say. This does mean more [than breeding Triple Crown winner Justify] and always will. This was the most important and means everything to me. To be able to mate the mare to Frankel and Juddmonte giving me that nomination even though the mare was unproven. To go through all that and then watch Without Parole being raised as a yearling was so special. The mare had not proven herself but, after we bred her to Frankel, she got her G1 winner [Tamarkuz] and proved herself. Juddmonte allowing me to bred that mare to Frankel meant everything, believe me, because I love Frankel so much.”
Jockey Frankie Dettori recorded his 58th success at the Royal Meeting on Without Parole. Without Parole responded well to Dettori’s urgings to fend off the late challenge of Gustav Klimt (8/1), also trained by O’Brien, to score by a half-length. Dettori said: “I had to move because Ryan Moore in front is always very dangerous and then when I got to him, I looked up and thought ‘oh, I still have a furlong to go, I’m a sitting duck here. In fairness, Without Parole answered every call of mine. He has only run four times and to do what he did was great. Without Parole is a lovely horse with a big future.
Tip Two Win promised to be one of the fairytale horses of the meeting, having finished runner-up in the Qipco 2000 Guineas for the relatively small stable of Roger Teal. Disappointed, but not downbeat, Teal said: “The race didn’t quite go to plan and we were further back than we wanted to be, and he had a lot of ground to make up. We were mindful of the stiffer mile here at Ascot and David [Probert] gave him a bit of cover to help him to settle, but they went a crazy early pace which did not help. The winner is a good horse and we take nothing away from him, but we still have a nice horse of our own – he was only touched off for third in the shadow of the post. We might drop him back to seven furlongs.”