ROYAL ASCOT

QUEEN MARY STAKES, GR.2

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he John Quinn-trained 25/1 shot Signora Cabello swooped late under Oisin Murphy to capture the G2 Queen Mary Stakes. The two-year-old daughter of Camacho travelled well throughout the five-furlong contest and ran on strongly in the closing stages to score by a short-head from the Aidan O’Brien-trained Gossamer Wings (25/1) in second, with the same distance back to the well supported Shades Of Blue (5/1), trained by Clive Cox, in third.
Quinn, registering his third victory at the Royal Meeting said: “Signora Cabello is very laid back. She has a very good mind and she has plenty of ability. Signora Cabello was originally owned by the Zen Racing partnership made up of Ross Sankey and Chris Edwards, who bought the filly for 20,000 guineas. However, the pair now own 25% of Quinn’s charge following Phoenix Thoroughbred’s decision to snap up a 75% stake in her a week before. Ross and Chris have a 25% stake now and are currently in Barbados watching the cricket! This is the first horse we have bought for them and my son Sean [bloodstock agent] bought the filly for them at Newmarket as he loved the pedigree.”
Jockey Oisin Murphy’s victory was his second at Royal Ascot – his first came at last year’s meeting, when he rode Benabtl to take the Hampton Court Stakes. Signora Cabello, a daughter of Camacho trained by Malton-based John Quinn in a photo-finish with Gossamer Wings, ridden by Donnacha O’Brien.

QUEEN’S VASE, GR.2

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]idan O’Brien completely dominated the G2 Queen’s Vase, taking the first three places with Kew Gardens, Southern France and Nelson. It was the Irish trainer’s 62nd Royal Ascot winner, his sixth victory in the Queen’s Vase. Kew Gardens, a son of Galileo, won easily by four and a half lengths at 100/30. He was ridden by Ryan Moore, for whom it was a 49th Royal Meeting triumph.
O’Brien said: “We always thought Kew Gardens would stay, and he loves fast ground. Donnacha thought after riding him in Epsom that maybe we rode him too forward and that taking your time on him a bit more would suit him. Ryan did that today and it worked out lovely. It was Nelson’s first run after a long time while Southern France is still a big baby who is going to improve a lot as the year goes on. We thought all three would stay beyond a mile and a half – that’s what they are bred to do, really. Kew Gardens can do a lot things. He can go back for the Irish Derby or have a little rest and be trained for the St Leger. The St Leger is a long way away but in the autumn it would be a lovely race for him. But he came out of Epsom very well and if he comes out of this as well, he could well go for the Irish Derby.

DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE STAKES

[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ewmarket trainer Marco Botti trained his first Royal Ascot winner when Aljazzi turned the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes into a procession. The result was a triumph for the five-year-old mare’s owner/breeders, Imad Al Sagar and Saleh Al Homaizi, who raced Investec Derby winner Authorized, and also for their racing manager and breeding advisor Tony Nerses, who bought the filly’s granddam, Majestic Sakeena, at the December Sale 12 years ago. Aljazzi (9/2), by Shamardal, beat Tribute Act (10/1) and Wilamina (11/2) by three and three-quarters of a length and a neck, becoming another Royal Ascot winner for in-form jockey William Buick, who has now ridden a career total of 22 winners at the meeting.

Botti said: “We have been so close here so many times with horses like Dandino, Excelebration and Euro Charline and it is just nice to finally get one on the board. She winds herself up a bit before races and takes a little bit out of herself so we tend to space her races out.
The five-year-old daughter of Shamardal relished the fast conditions and quickened up stylishly in the closing stages of the mile contest, spreadeagling the field to win by three and three-quarter lengths from James Fashawe’s Tribute Act (10/1) in second. Aljazzi finished second in this race at 40/1 last year to Qemah.
Tribute Act, who was supplemented for the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at a cost of £15,000, justified her trainer James Fanshawe’s faith by finishing second. 10/1 shot Tribute Act, who is owned and also bred by the Elite Racing Club, was ridden by Adam Kirby. They were beaten three and three-quarter lengths by Aljazzi.

PRINCE OF WALES’S STAKES, G1

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]ir Michael Stoute became the winning-most trainer at Royal Ascot after Poet’s Word (11/2) provided the Newmarket trainer with his 76th victory at the Royal Meeting, getting the better of 2/5 favourite Cracksman in the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Ridden by James Doyle, Poet’s Word stalked Cracksman in the early stages of the 10-furlong contest and unleashed a potent turn of foot in the straight to score comfortably by two and a quarter-lengths. Stoute, who trained his first Royal Ascot winner back in 1977 with Etienne Gerard in the Jersey Stakes, was tied on 75 victories at the Royal Meeting with the late Sir Henry Cecil.
Discussing the achievement Stoute said: “It is relief because we were stuck on 75 last year. As I said the other night, Henry did most of his training when it was a four-day meeting, so I have had an advantage. Nobody respected him greater than I did as a trainer. Cracksman beat Poet’s Word a long way here last time [in the Champion Stakes]. Maybe Cracksman is not at his very best now but we have beaten the others comprehensively. Poet’s Word is a very consistent, brave, sound horse. That’s what he is.” The G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes is a Breeders’ Cup win and you’re in contest with Poet’s Word guaranteed a place in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs in 2018. The G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes also forms part of the QIPCO British Champions Series.
Reflecting on the achievement, Stoute said: “Henry’s record was formidable, because he accumulated those numbers when there were four days of Royal Ascot for most of his career and the five-day meeting hasn’t been implemented for that long.
Certain horses that stick out include, of course, Etienne Gerard who was our first winner and Shareef Dancer, who was a very expensive 1981 yearling and won the King Edward VII Stakes in 1983. Shareef Dancer was the first horse Shiekh Maktoum Al Maktoum gave me. Shareef Dancer went on to win the Irish Derby beating the French and English Derby winners Caerleon and Teenoso – he was a decent horse. Doyle, for whom it was a ninth Royal Ascot winner, said: “They went a hell of a pace all the way. I could see Cracksman even after going a furlong was under pressure to hold his pitch. I thought, ‘I am going easy,’ and from Swinley Bottom to the home turn I was travelling all over him. It was just a case of hanging on and in the back of my mind I knew this horse stays a mile and a half, so I still wanted to press the button early enough. Sir Michael is a master trainer, isn’t he? With horses like this he is just very patient with them. It is nice to ride him a big winner and particularly a landmark winner like this.”
John Gosden, trainer of the Frankel four-year-old colt said: “His run wasn’t too dissimilar to Epsom. I noticed going up the hill at Epsom that he wasn’t really travelling, even on good to soft ground. He is a clever horse and to that extent, as I said earlier before the race, he was welcoming all the fillies that were walking back from the Duke Of Cambridge on the way back to the stables. I think we need to concentrate his mind, as we know the ability is there. I make absolutely no excuses whatsoever. The other horse [Poet’s Word] had him covered from two out. To my mind, he is just playing around a little bit. He did it at Epsom, but he didn’t do it first time out at Longchamp.”
“At no stage today was he travelling or carrying Frankie Dettori. To that extent we will get him home and sharpen him a little bit. He was very lethargic, and was never travelling at any stage.
We might look into the King George.”
Anthony Oppenheimer, owner of Cracksman, reflected: “That’s racing – you never can expect anything. He was never really going that well unfortunately today. I don’t know why.”
Godolphin’s marvellous globetrotter and money-earner Hawkbill added to his CV when taking third. Hawkbill, who wore blinkers for the first time, had run disappointingly when fifth in the 12-furlongs G1 Investec Coronation Cup last time out, but today finished much closer to Cracksman, who was the winner on that occasion.

ROYAL HUNT CUP

Princess Alexandra presents the prize for the Royal Hunt Cup to Settle For Bay jockey William Lee, during day two of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]rainer David Marnane struggled to contain his emotions after Settle For Bay won the £175,000 Royal Hunt Cup; it was only his second-ever Royal Ascot success (after Dandy Boy’s 2012 Wokingham Handicap victory) and Settle For Bay has overcome a broken pelvis to win today. The Rio De La Plata four-year-old was ridden by Billy Lee and beat Afaak by two and a quarter lengths at 16/1 in the highly competitive mile handicap. Settle For Bay (16/1) won by two and a quarter lengths from Afaak (10/1), who was a head and a neck in front of Circus Couture (100/1) and What’s The Story (33/1).

JERSEY STAKES, G3

No sooner had Sir Michael Stoute created a new record by training a total of 76 winners at Royal Ascot with Poet’s Word’s G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes victory than he took the crown further out of his rivals’ reach with a 77th success. This came courtesy of Expert Eye, ridden by James McDonald, who took the seven-furlong G3 Jersey Stakes impressively by four and a half lengths from Society Power. Expert Eye, a son of Acclamation, was odds-on favourite for the G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes last autumn after winning the G2 Qatar Vintage Stakes at Goodwood by four and a half lengths, but flopped at Newmarket, finishing ninth of nine behind US Navy Flag. After an encouraging second in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury in April, he could only finish 10th in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. Stoute said: “This horse was such a good two-year-old and then things went wrong in the Dewhurst. I am just so thrilled to see him back in this sort of form.”
Asked which of his 77 Royal Ascot winners had been his favourite, Stoute replied: “I’d have to say the first, Etienne Gerard in the 1977 Jersey Stakes. And Estimate was a great pleasure, winning the Gold Cup for The Queen in 2013, because she loves the race. And Shareef Dancer [winner of the King Edward VII Stakes in 1983] was very special because I was paid a lot of money for him and then things went wrong.”
New Zealand-born jockey James McDonald recorded his first success at Royal Ascot. Reflecting on his first victory at Royal Ascot, Australian-based McDonald, a former Godolphin retained jockey, who returned to race-riding in May following an 18-month ban for betting, the 26-year-old said: “He felt like a rocket-ship out there. He settled further back than I would have liked, but he travelled kindly and past the three-furlong pole, he picked up really good.