Willie Mullins has added his tribute to Kevin Prendergast, following the multiple Classic-winning trainer’s death on Friday at the age of 92.
Prendergast – son of the legendary Paddy ‘Darkie’ Prendergast – was a hugely popular and respected figure, landing the last of his Classic successes with Awtaad in the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2016.
“I was sorry to hear about Kevin. He was a tremendous trainer, who always had a word for you,” said Mullins, the reigning champion National Hunt trainer in Ireland and Britain.
“He had an opinion on everything and that opinion was valued by people because he’d been through it, he knew the good days and he knew the bad days.
“He was a tremendous character who will be sadly missed. A proper giant of the game, he did the hard work and he knew everything about the game.”
Former trainer Mick Halford, who now represents Joseph O’Brien on racecourses, said: “Kevin was a master on the Curragh when I started. He was somebody I always looked up to, his horses were always a credit to him.
“He was a great man to talk to, a great man for advice, and for a bit of slagging!
“He was a lovely man and I had a lot of time for him, and he will be sadly missed on the Curragh.
“He led a full life, he was a great example to us all.”
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A belated step up in trip is likely for Ruling Court following his Royal Ascot reversal, with both the Coral-Eclipse and the Grand Prix de Paris under consideration.
Charlie Appleby’s 2000 Guineas hero was slated for an immediate leap up to a mile and a half for the Derby before being withdrawn on the day at Epsom and subsequently remained at a mile for an all-star rematch with Newmarket runner-up Field Of Gold in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
However, after seeing his Rowley Mile rival turn around the Guineas form in style, Appleby is now relishing the next stage of his career up in distance, despite also being eager to see how the cards fall into place before playing his hand.
“We’re very much letting the dust settle but the signs are he has very much come out of the race well,” said Appleby.
The son of Justify already has a Classic to his name (David Davies for the Jockey Club/PA)
“We’ll see where respective winners from the whole meeting go in respects to where we may head. Ombudsman was of course very impressive in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and it will be interesting to see where John and Thady (Gosden) steer him towards.
“We’ve mooted an Eclipse with our fellow but I’m not afraid of going straight up to a mile and a half which we were going to do in the Derby and we have got the option of the Grand Prix de Paris.
“It’s your last option against three-year-olds so that could be a nice race to take a look at, but we’ll let a bit more dust settle before we confirm a plan.”
While Ruling Court may be heading up in distance, it appears likely Appleby’s other Classic scorer Desert Flower will be dropping back in trip after her third at Epsom in the Oaks.
Desert Flower was beaten when favourite for the Oaks (David Davies for the Jockey Club/PA)
Sent off the 11-10 favourite after a sublime performance on her return in the 1000 Guineas, the challenge of Epsom on rain-softened ground ultimately proved too much, with the Moulton Paddocks handler happy to give her as much time as necessary to recover from her Oaks exertions.
“You know she’s had a race at Epsom for sure and as I’ve said previously the ground and the track were the undoing of us,” added Appleby.
“It might have looked like she stayed but I don’t think she did being brutally honest, or didn’t stay well enough for that level.
“I’m going to give her a little bit of time and there’s plenty of options for her at a mile and a mile and a quarter. She’s a filly who owes us nothing and for now we will give her plenty of time.”
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Trawlerman’s Gold Cup win capped a magical week for John and Thady Gosden, who edged out Aidan O’Brien to top the trainers’ standings at Royal Ascot.
Field Of Gold and Ombudsman had already produced sublime performances in the St James’s Palace Stakes and Prince of Wales’s Stakes respectively during the first two days of the Royal meeting, but the elusive Gold Cup victory for the Clarehaven team’s staying stalwart rubber stamped a stellar five days.
Thady Gosden said: “It’s been a terrific week and I think the highlight must be Trawlerman. he’s been in the yard five years, he’s by Golden Horn and he wears his heart on his sleeve.
“He’s the most genuine horse and in his races he will do everything, but when you’re with him in person he is a kind, sweet, gentle soul, and for him to run the race he did having coming second last year – what a fantastic result for the horse and for the sport.”
Trawlerman won Thursday’s Gold Cup (David Davies/PA)
The Gosden team finished the week with five winners, the same number as O’Brien, but took the prize due to on extra silver medal they picked up through the week.
Gosden Sr has previously won the award twice on his own and praised his son Thady after winning the award for a second time as a training partnership.
John Gosden – who registered his 70th Royal Ascot winner this week – said: “Our week started very strongly with the right races and everyone working at home had the horses spot-on.
“They’ve run very well since, finishing second and third and second and third, and that of course counts towards winning this when you’re at five winners all with Aidan O’Brien.
“Thady has been with me about eight years already – and the rest – so, poor chap, it must be getting a bit annoying!
“But there is nothing like this meeting, it’s our Olympics, and it’s great to win this. Without him I wouldn’t be as on the ball at all. It’s been a great combination.”
Field Of Gold impressed on Tuesday (David Davies/PA)
Reflecting on Field Of Gold’s dazzling Group One victory which lit up the opening day of the fixture, Thady Gosden added: “Field Of Gold is a horse who has just improved and improved and improved.
“His sire Kingman was a peerless miler, but he has shown the electric turn of foot his sire had. It was a great race with all three Guineas winners from north-western Europe in the same race. He is very exciting for Juddmonte and for all of us.”
Ballydoyle handler O’Brien may have been thwarted in his quest for a fourth successive leading trainer prize, but his number one jockey Ryan Moore was out on his own as top rider for the 12th time.
He capped yet another fine week in Berkshire with his seventh success of the meeting aboard Willie Mullins’ Sober in the concluding Queen Alexandra Stakes to finish two clear of Oisin Murphy.
Sober won the final race of the meeting for Ryan Moore (John Walton/PA)
Moore said: “It’s great to ride seven winners, Aidan’s horses were in great form all work, when you’re riding for Aidan and Willie you’re going to ride winners.”
Both Coolmore and Wathnan Racing finished the week with five winners, but it was Coolmore who came out on top for the third year running on account of their superior record with placed horses.
Coolmore’s MV Magnier said: “It means a lot to everyone. The guys and everyone put everything into this week, and for Aidan and Ryan to do such a good job, it’s incredible.
“We’re very grateful and we are very lucky to be here. We are very lucky to have the King and Queen present every day this week. It’s a big deal for our business.”
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It is surely only a matter of time before Thesecretadversary makes his mark on the racecourse after a brave effort in defeat in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Fozzy Stack’s youngster hit the crossbar at Leopardstown on debut and upped to Listed level for his second start, lost nothing in defeat after trying to match strides with impressive winner Humidity.
Dropping back in class for a maiden would seem a formality, but it would be no surprise to also see him continue to ply his trade with flying colours in deep company as the season progresses.
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Get It just held on to deny the fast-finishing big-race favourite More Thunder after making every yard in the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
An all-the-way winner of the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood last year, George Baker’s seven-year-old arrived at the Royal meeting having broken the track record from the front over course and distance last month.
Sent off at 28-1 in the hands Seamie Heffernan, he was away quickly leading the majority of the field up the centre of the track and although William Haggas’ 3-1 market leader More Thunder was weaving his way through the field to challenge late on, Get It had enough up his sleeve to deliver a head verdict.
“He broke Blue Point’s record here six weeks ago and that was a great thrill – and it got us into this race,” said Baker.
“Seamie has given him a peach. All credit to Pat Cosgrave who, annoyingly, is banned. Pat has been the making of this horse and a great, great friend of mine and I’d love Patsy to be riding him obviously because we’ve had a lot of fun along the way – but what a wonderful substitute in Seamie.
“He breezed the horse a couple of times in Bahrain, loved him, and he did what Patsy always does. Let him burn out of the stalls and then he’ll come back to you and then he’ll go again.
“When he was still in front two furlongs out and they were coming, I knew he would go again. But that last furlong took about three days! What a horse. He’s danced a lot of dances and has been an absolute superstar for us.”
Quai De Bethune got up in the very last stride to to deny favourite backers in the Golden Gates Stakes.
Ralph Beckett’s Seraph Gabriel was all the rage as the 11-4 market leader following an eyecatching comeback run at Sandown, and he looked set to oblige after quickening up from the rear to grab the lead under Rossa Ryan.
However, the Andrew Balding-trained 12-1 chance Quai De Bethune came from even further back in the hands of Oisin Murphy and while there was little to choose between the pair passing the post, the judge confirmed Balding’s charge had got up by a nose.
“I’m very pleased. We’ve had this race in mind for him for a good while now, but you need everything to go right,” said the Kingsclere handler.
“He was given an outstanding ride and we just got the margins at the end of the race.”
The Queen Alexandra Stakes brings Royal Ascot to a close and not for the first time it was Willie Mullins who sent punters home happy, with odds-on favourite Sober sauntering to a facile victory under Ryan Moore.
A multiple winner in France for Andre Fabre before making a successful hurdling debut for Mullins at Killarney last month, the six-year-old was a 4-5 shot for his return to the Flat and after cantering all over his rivals, he pulled five lengths clear with the minimum of fuss.
Mullins, winning the race for a fifth time, said: “We bought this horse and he has surprised us; he’s improved a lot more than I thought he would.
“We will aim for the Melbourne Cup – this was stage one. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, but we’ll get them done.”
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Top international jockey João Moreira may have came up short in his quest to add a Royal Ascot winner to his decorated CV, but he was proud of the vanquished Satono Reve in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.
The Brazilian pilot, known as the ‘Magic Man’, has ridden big winners around the globe and was entrusted with providing Japan with a first victory at the Royal meeting when receiving the leg-up aboard Noriyuki Hori’s ace sprinter – who was sent off the 2-1 favourite for the final Group One of the week.
Having been subject to persistent money since advertising his wellbeing in a recent Newmarket gallop, the six-year-old travelled through the contest in sublime style for Moreira.
However, he met a determined rival in Lazzat in the closing stages and when the duo began to duel late into the piece, it was Jerome Reynier’s French raider who came out on top in the international showdown for sprinting supremacy.
“We went into the race with a lot of confidence, the horse was so well in himself but unfortunately we bumped into a very good horse today,” said Moreira.
“Lazzat’s form indicated he would be a danger and he had been winning impressively on his home ground.
“Halfway through I thought I had him done, but he just had another kick and kept attacking the line. I was closing up the gap but we just bumped into a good horse today and my horse ran really well.
“We thought we had a really good crack and unfortunately we just bumped into a really good horse. I can’t complain, he tried his very best.
“It’s a pleasure to be at a festival like this – of course finishing second is not the best result, but I still have to be happy with that.”
While the Wathnan Racing team were able to celebrate feature race success for the headline signing from their pre-Ascot delve into the transfer market, they were also delighted with the performance of fellow new signing Flora Of Bermuda.
Andrew Balding’s admirable filly was narrowly denied by Inisherin at York on her return to action and in her first outing in the peacock blue and old gold silks, she again hit the frame with a brave third in the hands of PJ McDonald.
“She’s run an absolute blinder and she was just a little bit free early,” said Wathnan’s Richard Brown.
“She’s run another very solid race, she’s so consistent. I’d be hopeful that one of these might drop her way and she had some very good horses behind her.
“These two (Lazzat and Satono Reve) have obviously gone a long way clear, but she’s finished best of the rest.”
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Noble Champion provided trainer Ed Walker and jockey Kieran Shoemark with their second Royal Ascot winner in as many days after careering clear of his rivals in the Jersey Stakes.
Having successfully combined with 22-1 shot Never Let Go in Friday’s Sandringham Stakes, Walker and Shoemark teamed up with another relative outsider in Noble Champion, who was 25-1 having struggled to make an impact in Group Three and Listed company this spring.
But stepped back up in trip from six to seven furlongs for this Group Three assignment, the Lope De Vega colt flourished, racing in the slipstream of the pacesetting Spy Chief for much of the way before taking over and pulling three and a quarter lengths clear, despite hanging left late on. Favourite Comanche Brave was just under three further back in third.
“It just hasn’t panned out, he had a setback in January that messed up our prep for the Greenham,” said Walker.
“We thought he was a Guineas horse, we really believed a lot in him. We thought we’d go a sensible route and we went in a conditions race at Goodwood over a mile, there wasn’t much pace. He was keen and he just got it all wrong.
“We brought him back to six, he just shows so much speed at home – we even thought about supplementing him for the Commonwealth Cup because he has so much speed.
“Finally the trainer got it right! He’s as good a work horse as we’ve had, he’s a very impressive horse. He’s very quick with such a high cruising speed, he’s very, very smart.
“He’s driven me mad, I’m guilty of wearing my heart on my sleeve and I tell my owners if I think the horses are good, bad or ugly. I told Simon (Sadler, owner) how much belief I had in this horse, we were gutted he got beaten on debut.
“I said to Simon that if it didn’t work today, then I didn’t know what was going wrong. The ground, track, and trip was all right.”
Shoemark felt the course and distance had suited his mount well, adding: The stiff seven furlongs here at Ascot, with a nice strong pace has really seen him at his best effect. He was in a lovely rhythm and it was just a matter of time to when I pressed go, he really hit the line strong.
“It can be a lonely place in front here, with the grandstand there’s plenty to look at. He wouldn’t have been in front a lot on his own before, so he was entitled to be a little bit green, but he’s very talented.
“The yard really is flying and there is a lovely team at home at Ed Walker’s. It’s a really impressive operation. I feel very fortunate to have partnered some good horses this week.”
Spy Chief’s rider Robert Havlin was pleased with the 20-1 shot’s effort having run just three times previously.
He said: “A great run, he’s an inexperienced horse coming from a novice win at Yarmouth. He’s still learning and still needs to relax a bit. I think the more racing he does, the better he will get.”
Donnacha O’Brien said of his third-placed runner: “He ran OK, I don’t think he had any excuses, the first two pulled well clear. This is a tough place, any time you hit the board, it’s not a bad result.”
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French raider Lazzat broke Japanese hearts as he outbattled Satono Reve in a thrilling international finish to the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Satono Reve was sent off the 2-1 favourite to become the first Japanese winner at the Royal meeting and was travelling powerfully throughout the contest in the hands of Joao Moreira.
However, it was Jerome Reynier’s Lazzat, who made every yard in the hands of James Doyle, who stayed on strongest in the closing stages, striking on his first start for owners Wathnan Racing at odds of 9-2 to continue a fine week for both his rider and owners.
There was drama after the finish as Lazzat unshipped Doyle as the pair returned to receive the Ascot applause, with the four-year-old running loose for some time before eventually being caught and safely returned to the stables.
Lazzat was adding a second Group One win to his tally after landing last year’s Prix Maurice de Gheest, but he had been beaten in Australia when sent on his travels at the end of the campaign.
Reynier, saddling his first Royal Ascot winner, said: “He did (win at the top level) as a three-year-old in the Maurice de Gheest in Deauville but after having been all the way to Australia and Hong Kong, I was a bit scared that it was going to be tough to find Lazzat the same as he was but obviously we have been trying him over a mile to open his options, but he’s a pure sprinter and we will stick to the sprinting distances over the straight courses for his future.
“That was a pretty tough challenge (from Satono Reve). I’ve been watching all his races and he’s always coming late and he’s always running on but James had a really good feeling with the horse and when the Japanese came to him, he put his ears back and tried again and he said there was no way he was going to pass him today.”
James Doyle after being unshipped from Lazzat (David Davies/PA)
Paddy Power cut Lazzat to 7-2 favourite from 8-1 for the July Cup at Newmarket, but Reynier feels that is an unlikely option.
He added: “The July Cup is coming a little quickly I guess but maybe we’ll defend his crown in the Maurice de Gheest, we’ve got the Sprint Cup (at Haydock) and we can be back here in October (Qipco British Champions Sprint) because he can handle any ground, if the ground is heavy he can do it then as well.
“He’s a very good champion. Today everything went right for once and we’re happy to have a first Royal Ascot winner, especially for Wathnan and Nurlan Bizakov as a breeder. I’m very happy for the connections involved.”
Reflecting on Lazzat’s post-race antics, Reynier said: “I was too happy to throw the winning sheet on him, he got a bit spooky and he obviously wasn’t too tired after the race so he said ‘let’s have a spin around the track’!
“We were so proud of him and wanted to be out on the track with him, but James was saying ‘hi’ to the crowd and was not paying attention maybe to what he was going to do.
“He’s a funny character, that is why he is Lazzat and he is our champion.”
While Deauville, Haydock and a return to Ascot look like being on Lazzat’s short-to-medium term agenda, the trainer also has one eye on what would be a mouthwatering clash with Hong Kong’s superstar sprinter Ka Ying Rising before the end of 2025.
He added: “I would love to take him on one day. Let him fight in The Everest and all the big challenges he’s got this year and maybe at the end of the year we can take him on in his home town at Sha Tin in the Hong Kong Sprint, why not?
“If he can win two or three more Group Ones this year he’ll definitely be the best sprinter in Europe and that would be a good thing.”
James Doyle with the trophy following Lazzat’s victory (John Walton/PA)
Doyle, riding his fourth winner of the week, said: “He just spooked at the winner’s sheet and got loose for 15 minutes or so – not ideal, is it, but it shows he had a fair bit left! He’s a quality horse.
“What a horse race with the Japanese horse coming to join me near the line, and he really pinned his ears back and attacked the line, so he’s got some talent and he wasn’t going to get beaten today.
“That was a first for me (being unseated like that), and it was a shame because it would have been nice to be able to come in with the horse, not by myself, but there we go. I did apologise to the King and Queen when I went to collect my prize and said I should have stayed in Pony Club a bit longer than I did, and we had a good laugh about that.
“This was the one we wanted – it’s a proper race and we’ve got a proper horse on our hands.”
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Globetrotting star Rebel’s Romance belatedly got Charlie Appleby off the mark at Royal Ascot this year with a typically determined display in the Hardwicke Stakes.
A dual winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, a multiple Group One victor in Germany and also successful at the highest level in Dubai and Hong Kong, the seven-year-old secured his biggest victory on home soil to date in last month’s Yorkshire Cup and he was a 6-4 shot to follow up under William Buick.
Favourite backers will have had few concerns, with Rebel’s Romance travelling strongly throughout and he found plenty up the straight to score comfortably by a length and three-quarters from Al Riffa, with Ghostwriter third.
Appleby, who had not saddled a Royal Ascot winner since 2022 and had seen well-fancied horses like Notable Speech, Ruling Court, Cinderella’s Dream and Treanmor beaten this week, was relieved to get himself into the big-race winner’s enclosure.
REBEL'S ROMANCE wins The Hardwicke Stakes for Charlie Appleby. Congratulations to connections. pic.twitter.com/yZACYlrGzq
“Rebel’s Romance is a worldwide superstar. I’ve got a picture of this fellow on my bedside table. He means that much to us all,” said the Moulton Paddocks handler.
“He’s the only horse I know that you can take to Hong Kong and he’ll get you into any bar and restaurant! You can get in anywhere on the back of Rebel’s Romance.
“As William says, he’s his best friend and they have that great rapport there. You couldn’t get two more willing partners together.
“I have to give credit to the team at home. When you have an older horse, to keep them sound and keep them going, for him to have his enthusiasm year after year at this level.
“As they get older they all taper, as we all do, that’s expected. He might get a bit slower but his enthusiasm and his heart does not falter one iota.”
Rebel’s Romance and William Buick return to the winner’s enclosure (John Walton/PA)
Reflecting on the week, Appleby added: “You can come here thinking you’re fully loaded and have great chances, and you can walk away with excuses, but that’s racing. I would like to think that we compose ourselves well, we take it on the chin and then we look forward to moving on.
“Once something comes to Rebel’s Romance, he finds. You very rarely get a horse that when it gets into the red, he still goes.
“If there was one horse that you were having to roll your last dice on in this game, it was going to be him. Win, lose or draw he’s going to go out there and go out on his sword for you.”
Joseph O’Brien was proud of the performance of runner-up Al Riffa, saying: “Fantastic run, probably unlucky to meet a horse like Rebel’s Romance in that race, but we’re very proud of our horse, who is a real star for us and he’s run his legs off for us again today.
“Hopefully there will be plenty more big days with him to come this season. He’s a beautiful horse and he always runs to a rating not too far off 120, and it’s hard to find horses like that.
“I wouldn’t be against trying a little bit further with him – he’s got plenty of stamina in his pedigree. I think we’ll probably think outside the box with him a little bit now.”
The Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter was sold for £2million on the eve of the Royal meeting and shaped with plenty of encouragement in his first start in the Amo Racing colours.
Kia Joorabchian now owns Ghostwriter (Mike Egerton/PA)
Owner Kia Joorabchian said: “That was the first time at that trip (mile and a half) and I think he has handled that trip very well.
“I’m definitely not disappointed because probably that’s one of his best runs ever. Clearly he’s got very strong heart and I think he’s going to give us a lot of fun.”
On what the future holds for the four-year-old, he added: “He like the (fast) ground so maybe somewhere like America, Australia, those kinds of places he’d relish.
“No decisions from us, but we are very pleased with his run and I think he’s managed to prove that the amount that we invested in him was worth it.
“Of course you’d like to win, but being beaten by a horse that has won the Sheema Classic, the Breeders’ Cup, big races in Qatar, that horse is a massive horse and I’m happy for Charlie – he’s broken his duck before me!”
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Humidity made his rivals feel the heat in the Chesham Stakes thanks to a fine front-running ride from James Doyle at Royal Ascot.
Trained by Andrew Balding, he was an impressive winner in the colours of Cheveley Park Stud over six furlongs at Newbury on debut, but transferred to the ownership of Wathnan Racing ahead of stepping up to seven furlongs for this Listed event.
Humidity (4-1) was quickly away and never passed by his rivals, showing great resolve when challenged late in the day to replicate his brother Holloway Boy, who won this contest on debut at the 2022 Royal meeting.
Balding said: “I am so pleased and at the beginning of the week we felt this horse was probably our strongest chance.
“He’s a lovely horse who had to battle hard today, and he’s done nothing wrong. I would hope he would stay further, but he’s not short of speed either. This was always the plan but we will now work back from something nice in the autumn.
“He’s so laid back. I’m a big fan of Ulysses – I think he’s an under-rated stallion, so this is good for him and we’ve got a couple of other nice horses by him, but he (Humidity) is an absolute dude, very relaxed.
“I think he could be a Guineas horse. He’s not short of speed and he’s got a lovely long stride, so he’s got a bright future.”
Coral make Humidity a 14-1 shot for next year’s 2000 Guineas.
Thesecretadversary followed Humidity home a length adrift at 12-1, with trainer Fozzy Stack predicting a bright future for the son of St Mark’s Basilica.
“He ran a great race. It’s annoying we didn’t get there, but he ran a great race,” said Stack.
“He’s been very straightforward, he’s always looked a bit above average from the minute we started doing a bit with him.
“I know he’s quite colourful, but he’s actually a very good model. Seamie (Heffernan, jockey) was delighted with him, he said he has the pace of a good horse, he feels he will mature in time.
“We have all the options, we can run back at a maiden, we can keep pitching in at a higher level, we will see.”
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Cajole will have plenty to offer in the future after her second-placed run in the Sandringham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
John and Thady Gosden’s Dubawi filly, owned, bred and well-named by Cheveley Park Stud out of the mare Persuasive, put up a clear career best as a 25-1 shot, beaten just a length.
She was head of the group of horses she was racing among, and with a little more luck on her side may have been closer still.
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Amiloc obliged favourite-backers to remain unbeaten and give Ralph Beckett his first victory at this year’s Royal Ascot courtesy of the King Edward VII Stakes.
An impressive winner of Goodwood’s Cocked Hat Stakes, the fact the son of Postponed is a gelding meant he had to bypass the Derby at Epsom for the race often referred to as the ‘Ascot Derby’.
Ryan Moore tried to slip the field on eventual third Galveston, but Rossa Ryan aboard the 11-8 market leader never let that duo too far out of his sights and after sending Amiloc to the front with a furlong to run, had enough in reserve to hold off Johnny Murtagh’s Zahraan by three-quarters of a length.
Beckett said: “He did it the hard way a little bit, we thought Galveston would probably go forward and it did work out like that.
“I didn’t really want to run him, to tell you the truth. I didn’t think he’d like the ground, but I was wrong about that.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had one win five straight, well I can’t think of one! I wasn’t confident because of the ground. We haven’t had a great week.
“Rossa was great, he rode him with plenty of confidence and it set up well for us, I will say that, but sometimes it just does.”
Amilco halved in price for the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes and asked about future plans, Beckett said: “I think ground will dictate, I wouldn’t be afraid to take anybody on with him on slower ground, so he is in everything.
“He’s going to take a bit of getting over today by the look of him; if it came up soft next month (for the King George), or with a bit of juice, I’m sure we’d be here.”
Of Zahraan, who runs in the colours of the late Aga Khan, Murtagh said: “He lost nothing in defeat. Ben (Coen) just said they quickened up from four out and just had him off the bridle a little bit earlier than ideal. I’m not saying he wants soft ground, but a little bit more juice in it would help him travel a bit longer.
“Finishing second here is definitely more frustrating as a trainer than as a jockey! It’s more nerve-wracking beforehand, and it’s gutting – you know how hard it is to win here. You see all all the people come with their best horses, and we thought we had one and we still do, but he just wasn’t good enough today.
“You’d love to think he might be an Arc horse one day, and the connections would love that race. He’s a bit to go to get there, but he might.”
He added: “I was really privileged to ride in these colours and you forget what a privilege it is until you go last week and see the Derby, which is the greatest race in the world and was run in honour of His Highness the Aga Khan, and for me to deliver now we have to find the winners on the big days.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2.80729501-scaled.jpg12802560https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.png2025-06-20 16:55:202025-06-20 17:20:19Amiloc holds off Zahraan in ‘Ascot Derby’
Francis-Henri Graffard was left frustrated but determined to take the positives after Zarigana was outfought in a Coronation Stakes thriller at Royal Ascot.
A granddaughter of the Aga Khan super mare Zarkava, Zarigana arrived at the Royal meeting looking to enhance her lofty reputation after winning the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, albeit via the stewards’ room, at ParisLongchamp last month.
However, the 6-4 favourite met a determined rival in Joseph Murphy’s Cercene and despite edging ahead close home, gave back that advantage with a little interest in the dying strides as the raiding French team had to settle for second on this occasion.
“I need to buy a pair of blinkers, probably,” quipped Graffard to questions about Zarigana’s attitude late in the day.
“It was very interesting what the jockey (Mickael Barzalona) said, he said she travelled really nicely, easily on the bridle, but as soon as she hit the front she completely changed in her attitude and threw her head up.
“It’s very frustrating, but we try our best with her. She’s a very talented filly and she didn’t disgrace herself. You always think you can win easily and she has the ability to win easily, but we didn’t get the job done today.”
After suffering only the second defeat of her career, connections were refusing to be too downhearted, with the regally-bred filly one of two for the Graffard-Aga Khan Stud team to hit the crossbar in Friday’s Group One events.
Graffard added: “I am lucky she is owned by a fantastic breeding operation and she has earned her place there. We don’t need to put a pair of blinkers on her – she has earned her place at stud. She has a lot of ability and she will produce fantastic stock that will come here and beat everybody.
“It’s very hard to be competitive here, firstly, and to win here is even harder. You come with very talented horses, but today I think we can’t complain. We have two fillies placed in Group Ones (Zarigana and Rayevka in the Commonwealth Cup) and they earned their places at stud, and so for the operation it is very positive.”
Back in third was Aidan O’Brien’s January, who after twice chasing home 1000 Guineas heroine Desert Flower as a two-year-old was back to her best following a below-par return in the Irish 1,000 Guineas last month.
“She ran OK, it was a little bit messy early, the race, but Ryan said she ran well, so we’re happy and we think she will come forward a little bit.
“Maybe one of the fillies’ races at Newmarket will be next for her, something like that.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2.80728370-scaled.jpg12802560https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.png2025-06-20 16:26:042025-06-20 16:26:04Graffard taking the positives as Zarigana suffers Coronation reverse
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