True Love shed her maiden tag in style with victory in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, True Love had chased home Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes winner and stablemate Gstaad on her latest start and was duly sent off the 9-4 favourite.
True Love took some time to work her way into the race as Zelaina set a scorching early pace, but she stayed on to real effect in the final furlong to beat 100-1 shot Flowerhead, with Patrick Biancone’s American raider Lennilu third.
True Love looked the part (John Walton/PA)
It was win number 93 for O’Brien at the big meeting, although rather surprisingly his first in the Queen Mary.
He said: “She’s lovely and in her first run Ryan came in and said they won’t beat her again and then after her second run Wayne (Lordan) said the same thing, that they won’t beat her again, and then you have to consider the two that beat her (Lady Iman and Gstaad) are very good horses.
“Ryan gave her a beautiful ride and Michael (Tabor) has always loved her and always spoken about her. It’s great as her mother (Alluringly) is in foal to City Of Troy and her sister is in foal to Wootton Bassett so it’s marvellous really.
“She was drawn by herself and there was no pace where she was so she had to go and do her own work and that’s what Ryan did, he was excellent on her. She was probably strongest in the last half-furlong and when she got going she really powered away.
Another juvenile winner for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore 👏
“Ryan said he was a little slow to step and a little on the back foot all the time and I think that’s why he was trying to stoke her up a bit, but late on she was really strong.
“She had to work really hard and the only place she was going to get company was out in the middle and Ryan did really well to let her go there. She was under the pump a long way out, but so strong at the line and is obviously high class.
“She’s like a four-year-old really and Ryan thought she would be better when she steps up to six furlongs and she’s a big, mature filly who walks around the ring like a four-year-old, she’s so scopey – she’s something to look forward to.”
On future plans, O’Brien added: “I think we look forward to going up in trip now, the lads will decide that. You would imagine she would have no problem going six furlongs, but she is No Nay Never and he’s a big speed influence always.
“The Queen Mary winner seems to always head to Deauville (Prix Morny) or the Curragh (Airlie Stud Stakes) and that would be the two races really or there is the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket in July. That may come too soon, but we will see how she is.”
Flowerhead on her way to post at Royal Ascot (John Walton/PA)
Flowerhead’s trainer Charlie Clover was thrilled to secure a Royal Ascot placing in his first full season with a licence.
He said: “This is a huge start for us, we were struggling away for the first few months but it’s really kicked into gear the past few weeks and it’s been a delight to see the whole team find their feet.
“It’s only a small team but it’s been massively welcome to see these horses run to form and I can’t thank (owner) Amo Racing enough, they’ve done so much for me and my career in helping me get off the ground.
“We liked her at home, we hoped she’d run a nice race but second was a bit of a dream. You can get greedy quite quickly and think you could have won it, who knows?
“I’m delighted to be in the frame and for her to run a big race for owners who are so important to me.”
Biancone plans to head back to America with Lennilu following her run, saying: “She’s only a baby.
“I liked the fact she was the first one off the bridle and she was there at the end, which means she will go a bit further and that is great. We’re happy, she fought all the way.
“We go home, we give her a break. The first plan was to try to bring her here which we did, she’s Grade Two placed now which is good. She’ll have a little vacation and we’ll see her in Del Mar.”
The Richard Hannon-trained Harry’s Girl was pulled up during the race and it was later confirmed the filly had sustained a fatal injury.
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Gstaad blew the Coventry Stakes field apart to give Aidan O’Brien an 11th win in the Royal Ascot feature.
Sent off the 7-2 favourite and drawn on the near side, his group appeared to be behind for much of the way before Ryan Moore sent him towards the centre of the track with two furlongs to run.
It never really looked in doubt from there and he came home three lengths clear of 80-1 outsider Do Or Do Not on the far side, with Coppull third at 66-1.
O’Brien said: “I’m absolutely delighted and he looks a very good horse, doesn’t he – you don’t win the Coventry like that often and he was visually very good.
“We’ve always loved him and he’s only had the one run, obviously, but has always worked like a good horse. This was the first horse Ryan rode when he came over in January or February time and he was highly thought of then.
“He’s big, he’s scopey and goes with his head down and is very genuine and he looks like he will get further than six. He has all the attributes.
“I’d imagine we would go for a Group One now and the Prix Morny is what they usually do after winning this.”
The long-time favourite for this race was Gstaad’s stablemate Albert Einstein before he suffered a setback earlier this month, ruling him out of the meeting.”
Comparing his winner to the potential star confined to barracks at Ballydoyle, O’Brien added: “Albert Einstein was always something very different and a very quick horse, incredibly quick from the day we worked him.
“Gstaad is a big horse who travels well and with lots of speed. We always thought this was a top-tier horse alongside Albert, but your man was just so fast it was different.”
Of Do Or Do Not, Ed Walker said: “I’m quite surprised, to be honest! The Coventry is not a race I thought I’d be winning anytime soon, but fair play to Simon (Sadler, owner) he felt like rolling the dice.
“I was quite happy to go and find a forty grand novice at Carlisle, but he ran an absolute blinder and I’m really proud of him. He’s a tough horse.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2.80691233-scaled.jpg12802560https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.png2025-06-17 14:21:362025-06-17 14:46:45Gstaad records sizzling Coventry Stakes success
Ante-post favourite Illinois headlines eight declarations for Thursday’s Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
His trainer Aidan O’Brien has won the two-and-a-half-mile highlight a record nine times, with four-time winner Yeats and dual hero Kyprios among those to fly the Ballydoyle flag.
Kyprios was expected to bid for a hat-trick this year before suffering a career-ending injury last month, leaving St Leger runner-up Illinois to step into the staying breach.
Godolphin will be double-handed with the John and Thady Gosden-trained Trawlerman, who is ridden by William Buick, and Saeed bin Suroor’s Dubai Future who will be partnered by James McDonald.
The latter finished last behind Candelari in a ParisLongchamp Group One last time out and that Francis-Henri Graffard-trained rival is among the leading candidates here as he bids to become the first French-trained winner of the race since Westerner 20 years ago.
Sagaro Stakes first and second, Yashin and Coltrane renew rivalries, while Sweet William is a second Gosden-trained contender and completes the line up along with Wonder Legend.
Trueshan and Jan Brueghel were the only two horses not declared.
Musidora Stakes second Serenity Prayer heads 11 contenders for the Ribblesdale Stakes, having seen the York form boosted when winner Whirl ran a close second in the Oaks at Epsom.
Paddy Twomey fields Catalina Delcarpio, Garden Of Eden is one of three for O’Brien, with the Gosden team also triple-handed with Life Is Beautiful, Go Go Boots and Understudy.
O’Brien’s Charles Darwin leads 16 chasing Norfolk Stakes glory and French Derby third Detain drops down in class as one of 14 runners in the Hampton Court Stakes.
The King George V Stakes, the Britannia and the closing Buckingham Palace Stakes have all drawn full fields of 19, 30 and 29 respectively.
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No trainer has won the Coventry Stakes more than Aidan O’Brien and he sends two unbeaten colts for this year’s race in Gstaad and Warsaw.
The Ballydoyle handler has won the premier Royal Ascot juvenile race on 10 occasions and appears to hold an incredibly strong hand yet again.
Gstaad is the choice of Ryan Moore after he triumphed over five furlongs on his debut, beating a stablemate who had finished second in Listed company previously.
“We always though Gstaad was a very nice horse. He obviously won first time when he beat one of our others (True Love) in Navan and we always thought he was a smart colt,” said O’Brien.
“Warsaw ran at Navan and he was one of three (from the stable) because we were just trying to get those who could be possible Ascot horses out and he was obviously on that list.
“He won very nicely there and he obviously hasn’t done much since but he’s in good form. We liked him before he ran and thought he was a possible for Ascot but sometimes when you run them, they are very green and Ascot would come too quick but he wasn’t. You just don’t know until they run, we did always like him.
“Gstaad won nicely and we always thought he was a quality horse and he won’t mind an extra furlong.
“I don’t think it was a hard decision for Ryan.”
Postmodern has the Wathnan Racing team excited at what might be to come.
A son of Too Darn Hot, he was sent to Yarmouth for his one and only run to date and could hardly have been more impressive in victory.
Wathnan also have Underwriter in the field, but retained rider James Doyle has plumped for the Hamad Al Jehani-trained contender.
“I think James is very happy with his decision to ride Postmodern and we’ve been very happy with him since Yarmouth,” said Wathnan’s racing adviser Richard Brown.
“Hamad Al Jehani and his team have done a great job with this colt and he was obviously very impressive that day.
“He’s only run once and it’s a huge ask, but that is what this race is all about and there’s a lot of colts in the same bracket having run once and won well once. We’ll find out how good he is, but he’s certainly a colt we’re all excited about.”
Despite Doyle electing to partner Postmodern, Brown warned the Archie Watson-trained Underwriter (James McDonald) should not be overlooked. Like Postmodern, he is unbeaten after his sole racecourse appearance to date.
“He was very impressive at Ayr and has done everything right since,” continued Brown.
“He’s not to be forgotten, let me tell you, and we’re very lucky we start the week with two big bullets to fire.”
Charlie Appleby’s Military Code has done nothing wrong to date, winning both of his outings, most recently gaining course experience at Ascot when beating Fitzella, who is well fancied for the Albany later in the week.
Appleby told the Godolphin website: “Military Code’s form is rock solid and we are looking forward to stepping him up to six furlongs. He has put up two strong performances to date, including one under a penalty, and should hopefully be very competitive at this level.”
Aidan O’Brien’s Illinois and Francis-Henri Graffard’s Candelari have the chance to fill the void left by Kyprios after standing their ground for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
There is a vacancy at the top of the staying tree after the recent retirement of O’Brien’s dual Gold Cup hero, but hopes are high Illinois could prove a ready-made replacement judged on his impressive Ormonde Stakes success at Chester.
O’Brien has also confirmed Coronation Cup hero Jan Brueghel, but Illinois is poised for a mouthwatering showdown with Graffard’s French raider, who announced himself at the top-level with a sublime performance at ParisLongchamp in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier.
John and Thady Gosden’s Trawlerman and Sweet William have been regular bridesmaids to Kyprios and now have the chance of their moment in the spotlight, with the former winning well in his Sandown reappearance.
Andrew Balding’s Coltrane is another regular in this event, but he will have to reverse Sagaro Stakes form with Michael Bell’s Yashin to make his presence felt, with Bell looking to recreate the Gold Cup exploits of Big Orange from 2017.
Saeed bin Suroor has confirmed Dubai Gold Cup scorer Dubai Future, with James Ferguson’s Wonder Legend given the chance to transfer his smart all-weather form on turf.
The 10-strong list is rounded off by Alan King’s stalwart Trueshan, although the warm weather has the potential to once again scupper any hope of him appearing in this race.
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/280003930-scaled.jpg12802560https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.png2025-06-13 11:42:312025-06-13 17:25:16Illinois and Candelari on course for Gold Cup showdown
Exciting filly See The Fire has been supplemented to join the likes of Los Angeles and Anmaat in a mouthwatering renewal of Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Having performed well at Group One level on several occasions last season, Andrew Balding’s See The Fire could only finish fifth on her Sandown comeback, but bounced back to form with a spectacular 12-length success in last month’s Middleton Stakes at York.
She is now set to take on the boys in the feature event on day two of the Royal meeting after being added to the £1million Prince of Wales’s Stakes at a cost of £70,000.
Los Angeles (left) and Anmaat will lock horns again at Ascot (Niall Carson/PA)
Aidan O’Brien’s Los Angeles denied the Owen Burrows-trained Anmaat by half a length in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh last month, with last year’s winner White Birch back in fourth.
All three horses look set to line up on Wednesday, with Anmaat arguably the one open to most improvement given his Tattersalls Gold Cup appearance was his first since winning the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October.
O’Brien has also left in Continuous, while French hopes are set to be carried by Francis-Henri Graffard’s Map Of Stars and Facteur Cheval from Jerome Reynier’s yard. The former has won five of his seven starts to date and was touched off by Sosie in the Prix Ganay on his most recent outing.
Ombudsman (John and Thady Gosden), Certain Lad (Jack Channon) and Royal Champion (Karl Burke) are the others to stand their ground.
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There are three festivals a year I get really excited about, writes Dave Renham. The Cheltenham Festival and Glorious Goodwood are two; and the third, which is soon to be upon us, is of course Royal Ascot. Around this time last year I looked in detail at the big 1-mile handicaps at the meeting - you can catch up with that piece here. This year I am concentrating on the Group 1 races.
Introduction
There are eight Group 1s run at the Royal meeting and they are as follows:
As would be expected, there is a good mix of different race distances and conditions although there is only one Group 1 race at a distance beyond 1m 2f, the Gold Cup.
In this article I am looking back on the last ten years of these Group 1 contests, trying to find any snippets that may help us when tackling the races this year. Profit and losses have been calculated to Betfair Starting Price (BSP) less 2% commission.
Royal Ascot Group 1s by Market Rank
Let me start by examining the market. I have ranked the runners based on BSP, which is the most accurate way of doing it. Further, it eliminates almost all of the ‘joint’ market positions.
These races have definitely been market-friendly with the top three betting positions each producing a blind profit. Those fourth in the Betfair betting lists have performed poorly but due to the modest sample we can perhaps assume this is an anomaly. Regardless, it seems that the top three in the betting are the ones to concentrate on.
Group 1 Favourites at Royal Ascot
Narrowing in on favourites, below are the Percentage of Rivals Beaten (PRB) figures for each individual race to help give a better overview of favourite performance in specific races. For the record the average PRB figures for favourites across the eight races combined stands at 0.76.
There has been quite a variance with Gold Cup favourites performing best, and by some margin. Their actual performance in the Gold Cup has been as follows:
During the ten year study period the Gold Cup favourite secured five wins, two seconds, a third and two fourths, so no BSP jolly has completely bombed out.
Royal Ascot Group 1s: Top 3 Market Ranks
If we undertake the same type of PRB analysis across the top three in the betting, the graph generally becomes more even:
The St James’s Palace has the highest figure now with the Gold Cup a close second. Nine of the ten winners of the St James’s Palace came from the top three in the betting (four favourites, three second favs, two third favs).
Conversely, of all the races the Commonwealth Cup has seen fancied runners struggle the most. Favourites have won three of the last ten Commonwealth Cup renewals, but there were no wins for second favourites (two wins for third favs). Quite a few horses that were in the top three of the betting have bombed out with 10 of the 30 failing to finish in the top ten, three of them being favourites.
It should be noted that the four winning Commonwealth Cup favourites in the past decade more than paid for the other six losing jollies, returning a profit of 2.55 units at BSP.
Royal Ascot Group 1s by Last Time Out (LTO) Position
The second area I want to look at is recent performance and specifically LTO finishing position. Here is a breakdown of performance by last day finishing position (I have grouped all horses together that finished fifth or worse LTO):
The BSP profit for those that finished third LTO has been totalled skewed by the 140.0 BSP winner Khaadem. LTO winners do look the group to concentrate on with over half of the 80 winners having also won on their most recent start. If we combine LTO winners with a position in the top three in the betting, then we see some excellent results: 36 winners from 115 runners (SR 31.13%) for a profit of £30.50 (ROI +26.5%); A/E 1.14.
It is also worth keeping an eye out for LTO winners that won by at least a length in the race prior to Ascot. These runners have scored 18.9% of the time (30 wins from 159) for a profit of £29.13 (ROI +18.3%).
Royal Ascot Group 1s by Last Time Out (LTO) Race Class
Onto looking at the class of race LTO. Here are the splits:
As we would expect horses that ran in Group 1 company last time have won most often. Those that raced in Group 3 or Listed Class LTO have been profitable, but both have been skewed by very big priced winners going in. Still, Royal Ascot is a meeting where horses fairly consistently win at massive odds.
LTO winners that contested a Group 1 race have actually offered poor value despite a strike rate of close to 30%. The 51 qualifiers lost over 28p in the £ if backing them to repeat the Group 1 win at Royal Ascot.
Royal Ascot Group 1s by Days Since Last Run (DSLR)
It is time to see whether the timing of the last run before Royal Ascot makes a difference. It should be noted this data does not include French, American or Australian runners as I do not have facility to check those. However, it still applies to over 90% of Ascot runners. Here are my findings:
As the table shows, I have included 50 to 240 days as a single group simply because there are very few runners within that grouping, and their performance has been poor. I wanted to help highlight the difference between that group and the group absent 241+ days (or eight months-plus).
The biggest cohort had a run between 22 and 35 days prior to Ascot and their results have been positive given the overall context. To give a broader overview let me share the PRB figures for each ‘days off track’ grouping:
These figures correlate with the win strike rates. The figures for 22 to 35 days and 241 days+ are clearly best. Finally in this section, below is the ten-year performance in Royal Ascot Group 1s of horses from the top three in the betting by days since last run:
Again, this points to the same two groups (22 to 35 days; 241+ days) as the areas in which to focus from a positive perspective. They would have offered punters very good value over the past ten years.
Royal Ascot Group 1 Trainers
The final area I will consider is that of trainers although it should be noted that data is limited. There are a handful of trainers who have saddled at least 20 runners in Royal Ascot Group 1s in the last ten years, and they are shown in the following table:
It is important not to take these figures (especially big profit lines) too literally due to the sample sizes. It is probably more prudent to look at the PRB values to give a better general indication of how each trainer's horses have run:
William Haggas, despite having just one winner from 24, has an excellent PRB figure so it looks like he has been somewhat unlucky in recent years. He has endured five second places, as well as four thirds and five fourths. Haggas looks a trainer that may offer some placepot/ each way value at the very least next week.
By contrast, Roger Varian’s runners have really struggled although a good proportion of his charges have been bigger prices. Indeed, Charyn, in last year's Queen Anne Stakes is Varian's sole Royal Ascot G1 winner to date. There are sure to be more in future but his seem a little over-bet.
Other trainer titbits to share include the fact that Aidan O’Brien's 13 Group 1 winners in the past decade have all been ridden by Ryan Moore (from 61 rides). All other jockeys riding for O'Brien are a combined 0 from 43 since 2015, although again most of these runners were outsiders. Sticking with O’Brien it seems best to concentrate on those starting favourite or second favourite. They have combined to produce 12 of his 13 winners (from 34 qualifiers) returning a small 2p in the £. Finally, albeit from a very small sample, the Gosden stable has had four winners and four placed runners from just 13 runners aged four.
Summary
The Group 1 races at Royal Ascot are the races that owners, trainers and jockeys covet the most, although any win at the Royal meeting is huge.
In terms of the Group 1s, the most fancied runners - those in the top three in the betting - have fared much the best. Don’t be put off by horses having their first run in more than eight months (241+ days) and we might also consider a break of 22 to 35 days (three to five weeks) as more of a positive than a negative.
A last day win is preferable to other finishing positions and a last time out win coupled with a top three position in the betting market has been a very strong positive. From the training ranks, William Haggas appears to have been quite unlucky in the past decade and certainly I’ll be popping a few of his runners in my placepots at the very least. Aidan O’ Brien runners are worth noting if starting in the top two of the betting and particularly when ridden by Ryan Moore.
Wishing you the best of luck with your Royal Ascot Group 1 wagers.
- DR
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Kyprios_MojoStar_Stradivarius_GoldCup_Ascot2022.jpg319830Dave Renhamhttps://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.pngDave Renham2025-06-09 12:35:212025-06-09 12:35:21Royal Ascot 2025: Analysing The Group 1 Races
Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Lake Victoria has been ruled out of the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Undefeated in five juvenile starts last season, including Group One wins in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, the Cheveley Park and at the Breeders’ Cup, Aidan O’Brien’s filly was beaten into sixth place in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on her return to action but bounced back to her best in the Irish equivalent.
The daughter of Frankel was expected to be a major part of the Ballydoyle handler’s Ascot team next week, but owners Coolmore said in a post on X on Monday: “Lake Victoria will not run at Royal Ascot. She will have an easy few weeks and will return for a late summer/autumn campaign.”
The post also confirmed plans for Minnie Hauk and Whirl after the pair finished first and second in the Betfred Oaks at Epsom on Friday.
It read: “Epsom Oaks winner Minnie Hauk will target the Irish Oaks, while Whirl, who finished runner-up in the Epsom Oaks, will head for the Group One Pretty Polly Stakes.”
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So Aidan and the boys won the Betfred-sponsored Coronation Cup, Oaks and Derby last weekend, picking up around £1.5 million in the process, writes Tony Stafford. Lambourn, the well-backed third favourite on Derby Day, far out-performed his much more talked-about stable companions The Lion In Winter and short-priced favourite Delacroix in almost a repetition of Serpentine’s all-the-way easy victory under Emmet McNamara at the height of Covid five years ago.
Ryan Moore had selected Delacroix from the gang of trials winners rather than Chester Vase hero Lambourn and, in retrospect, it was maybe a little strange as Aidan always sends his best candidates to Chester, its timing best suiting Epsom.
People may question the suitability of a one-mile always-turning circuit as a recipe for revealing Epsom Classic talent, but I know Henry Cecil always reckoned that a big horse would be fine around the Roodeye if he was well-balanced. Lambourn certainly is.
He was picked up almost by default by Wayne Lordan, the apparent third string – Colin Keane, the regular Irish champion was on Dante flop The Lion In Winter. But the stamina Lambourn showed in winning the Chester Vase (just beyond 1m4f) last month convinced Wayne to go hard in the first furlong out of the stalls – to wake his mount up as much as anything – as he knew, unlike many in the field, his mount would not fail through lack of staying power.
Auguste Rodin (2023) and City Of Troy last year were fully expected winners but two other runnings in the last decade have gone to perceived third or higher strings. Wings Of Eagle, the fifth choice in terms of expectations in 2017 was a 40/1 shot when Padraig Beggy guided him home.
Beggy has been rarely seen since on the racecourse, but he did return to Epsom two years later to partner outsider Sovereign as a pacemaker in the Derby and finished tenth. He then rode him as a 25/1 outsider in the Irish Derby and won it!
McNamara might not have seen much riding action after Serpentine’s triumph, but it’s hardly surprising as he had been combining his riding with studying at Griffith College, Dublin. He graduated from there in 2018 with first-class honours in accountancy and finance in 2018 and works in that capacity in the Coolmore operation. Talk about top-class staff!
Moved across to Ballydoyle when David Wachman, John Magnier’s son-in-law, stopped training to take a behind the scenes role in the Coolmore machine, Lordan was third string to Ryan Moore and Seamie Heffernan until that veteran left the team a couple of years or so ago.
Lordan, one of those outdated characters, a true lightweight, had a serious injury during the 2023 Irish Derby which took eight months to overcome. As he said after Saturday’s triumph, he has a wonderful job. It was only a neck that denied him the Oaks-Derby double when Moore’s mount Minnie Hauk just edged out he and Whirl after another flawless front-running ride around Epsom’s tricky 1m4f course the previous afternoon, showing what jewels are available to the Coolmore number two on which to demonstrate his skills.
The modest Mr Lordan affirmed that he will have been in for work at 7 a.m. as usual yesterday and after no drunken celebratory stupor. Like the trainer he’s a teetotaller.
Aidan O’Brien has now won the Derby and Oaks eleven times each and, for good measure, ten Coronation Cups after Friday’s determined triumph for Jan Brueghel over the odds-on French four-year-old Calandagan. The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained horse was adding to his string of half-hearted second places (now four in a row) behind a typically tough O’Brien stayer.
In all, it’s 47 UK Classics from the 139 that have been contested since his first winning attempt in the 1,000 Guineas in 1998. That’s around 33 per cent. At least everyone else has been able to share the remaining two-thirds although, as time goes on, the dominance if anything is strengthening.
Aidan’s 22 Epsom Classics have all come this century, thus 22 of the 52 to have been run, or 42%! When Michael Tabor and Mrs Sue Magnier add their joint win with the Andre Fabre-trained Pour Moi, they are on 12.
To add to the winner, Coolmore’s partners also own Tennessee Stud, who finished fast from off the pace for the Joseph O’Brien stable. This son of Wootton Bassett was bred by Joseph’s mother Anne-Marie. Wootton Bassett has been the runaway star of the Coolmore firmament of late and his fee for this year was raised to an almost unthinkable €300k.
But even at that lofty price, in this Derby line-up he wasn’t the most expensive of the 14 sires (New Bay, Ghaiyyath, Sea The Stars and Frankel were doubly represented). Juddmonte’s Frankel’s fee is £350k. Dubawi, with one runner yesterday, has the same fee for his services at Darley Stud.
Every November the stud fees for Coolmore’s stallions are made public. I was shocked in 2023 that Australia, the 2014 Derby and Irish Derby winner and a son of another outstanding Epsom hero in the peerless Galileo, had his fee for 2024 reduced to €17,500. If potential clients needed any further encouragement, his dam is the Oaks winner Ouija Board.
I mentioned it to one of Coolmore’s stallion sales team at the time, who said it reflected his lack of popularity, probably because his progeny often needed time. He added that the only people that seemed to have confidence in him still were Aidan and Anne-Marie who sent a good number of mares to him.
Checking on my facts, I was further stunned that the 2025 fee was down to ten grand (Euro, about £8,400). Aidan and Anne-Marie sure know their stuff. It’s not too late for Australia to start going back towards the €50k at which he began his stallion career. Note, for example, that he is still at Coolmore while others have been sent elsewhere due to the hard-nosed realism that characterises the stud’s management. Of the 20 published stallion figures for flat race rather than jumps sires, only one was listed at a lower figure.
Watching from home due to entirely foreseen but inescapable circumstances, I was momentarily fooled into thinking that Lester Piggott had come back to ride in the Derby in the second running after his death. As the horses walked around, I noticed just how similar Rossa Ryan carries himself on a horse. When you get the chance, have a look. No doubt he’ll win the race one day, but the Dante Stakes winner Pride Of Arras never looked in with a chance.
One fact that certainly didn’t fool me was the dispiriting sight of the sparsely populated Hill. Every first Saturday in May, in Louisville, Kentucky, upwards of 100,000 squeeze in, a tradition in US racing that goes back to the days of the famed War Admiral/Seabiscuit match race at Pimlico in November 1938, where upstart Seabiscuit met his regally bred Kentucky Derby-winning rival and humbled him.
When I used to go to Epsom with my dad in the 1960s, there were more people there during the three-day (now one) Spring meeting in April than deigned to turn up on Saturday.
All the years I used to go there when with the Daily Telegraph, I arrived for breakfast in the old lads’ canteen, waiting for a glimpse of a few of the contenders having a leg shake in the morning, and the crowd was already building up. Many scores of buses lined the straight and the Hill was packed. On Saturday there was a sprinkling of people and even Ollie Bell and former England hockey goalie Sam Quek couldn’t disguise the fact that there was enough room for kids to play impromptu football matches.
Apparently, the Jockey Club, who run Epsom, is considering how to deal with the problem. The remedy is simple. Charge a tenner for cars and allow free admission. Then people will begin to flock back, find it an enjoyable experience and one that will develop as the years go on. I’ve never been so embarrassed. Derby Day once was a great British tradition. For most of our much-changed society, it’s an irrelevance. Thank goodness ITV think it’s worth making the effort.
Many say switching from Wednesday was a big mistake but, since Covid, it seems so few people these days have physically to GO to work, that simplification is a red herring.
It’s not as if there’s loads of competition from other sports at this time of year. On Saturday, England played a World Cup qualifying match against Andorra. Who? Our brave boys, rated number four in the world, hammered the opposition (rated 173 – I didn’t know there were that many countries) by a single goal to nil. Some of them are on £300k a week. Worth every penny I’d say.
Aidan O’Brien considers the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby the most likely next port of call for Lambourn following his Epsom heroics on Saturday.
A son of dual Derby winner Australia, the three-year-old made virtually every yard of the running in the premier Classic under Wayne Lordan, providing O’Brien with his 11th Betfred Derby success.
Speaking on Racing TV’s Luck on Sunday programme, the Ballydoyle handler reported his three Derby runners to have returned home none the worse, with Lambourn’s stablemates Delacroix and The Lion In Winter set to drop back in trip after finishing ninth and 14th respectively.
“The horses have been out for a walk and a pick of grass (this morning) and everybody seems very happy with them,” said O’Brien.
"Lambourn's ran them RAGGED in the #EpsomDerby" 😮💨
“We were expecting Wayne was probably going to go forward to make the running on Lambourn – unless there was someone going very fast he was going to end up in front and that’s what happened. Wayne gave him a great ride, he had to be aggressive from the gates and he is a horse that stays very well.”
O’Brien felt there were excuses for Delacroix, the chosen mount of Ryan Moore, and the Colin Keane-ridden The Lion In Winter.
He added: “It got a little bit rough up the hill, I think Ryan got chopped up at the top of the hill and Colin ended up a little bit more forward than he thought he was going to be and out a little bit.
“To have one horse in any race and it go right is very difficult, so if you have three in a race it’s usually not going to go right for them all.
“We learnt that Wayne’s horse stays very well and is a very straightforward, uncomplicated horse, we learnt Colin’s horse could be a miler, so he was probably a mile out of his ground, and it’s very possible that Ryan’s horse is a mile-and-a-quarter horse, even though their races didn’t go as well as they would have wanted.
“In the Derby every year you get fairly straightened out and sort out what you are or you aren’t. The Derby and the Oaks are the races that expose the whole three-year-old generation, their flaws and their weaknesses and their strengths. You usually know where you’re going after it.”
Aidan O’Brien is interviewed by the media following Lambourn’s Derby success (David Davies/The Jockey Club)
On future plans for the winner, he said: “The lads (owners) will make that decision and we’ll see how he is when he gets back cantering in 10 days, but it looks like he’s an Irish Derby horse and it looks like the Curragh would really suit him.”
The trainer also praised the winning rider, who was winning his first Derby.
“Wayne is an unbelievable horseman and the most genuine, uncomplicated person you’ll ever meet in your life,” O’Brien added.
“He’s grateful for everything and expects nothing – that’s Wayne totally. He’ an unbelievable person to work with and an unbelievable rider, horseman and jockey all rolled into one.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/280548794-scaled.jpg12802560https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.png2025-06-08 12:22:182025-06-08 12:22:18O’Brien looking to Curragh for Derby hero Lambourn
A lot can happen in 24 hours – just ask Wayne Lordan. On Friday afternoon Oaks victory aboard Whirl was in sight, only to be denied late by Ryan Moore and Minnie Hauk. A day later Betfred Derby glory was his when an inspired front-running ride aboard willing partner Lambourn turned the ultimate test into a formality.
However, the Lordan story does not begin and end within two days in June and when the 43-year-old was unshipped by San Antonio half a mile from home in the 2023 Irish Derby, some may have been forgiven for thinking that would be the end of his Classic dreams.
Lordan suffered fractures to his legs and elbow, as well as a nasty laceration to his arm in an incident which left him not only knocked out but spending eight months on the sidelines.
Lambourn blitzes the opposition for a brilliant Derby triumph. Yet another for that genius Aidan O’Brien pic.twitter.com/G16mEShLR8
It is often said that loyalty is a two-way street and during his darkest days he knew he could count on Aidan O’Brien.
The master of Ballydoyle was ready and waiting to repay one of his most trusted lieutenants for years of service and when the moment came, Lordan delivered a sublime ride to provide O’Brien with a record-extending 11th winner of the premier Classic.
“Racing is a tough game and lots of jockeys get injured and thankfully I had the support of Aidan and everybody at Coolmore to help you get back,” said Lordan.
“I suppose when you are coming back to ride horses like this it gives you an even stronger focus and I was lucky I had such a good job to come back to.
“I never wanted to be negative so always told myself I would be fine even when it was tough. I tried to stay focused and got in the gym and just told myself I would soon be back.”
Aidan O’Brien tells press conference host Martin Kelly what it means to win another Derby (Adam Morgan/PA)
When riding for O’Brien it is far from picking up scraps once Moore has had his say from the swelling team of Ballydoyle Classic prospects.
But for a man who had finished third for O’Brien aboard Japan (2019) and subsequent Irish Derby hero Los Angeles 12 months ago, there was only one colt for him this time around, as O’Brien explained.
“I knew there were two horses Wayne wanted to ride this weekend and once Ryan knew what he was going to ride, Lambourn and Whirl were the ones Wayne wanted,” said O’Brien.
“When I had been going round the yard in the evening the lads were telling me what was going on and I knew who he wanted which made it very easy for me to put him on.
“Wayne said to me coming out of the parade ring this horse is on fire today and that was before the race. He’s given him an unbelievable ride and he’s a special fellow.”
Wayne Lordan with Lambourn after winning the Betfred Derby (John Walton/PA)
With Moore and big-race favourite Delacroix only ninth and Irish champion Colin Keane and The Lion In Winter even further adrift, the stage was set for Lordan to steal the show and he had the perfect co-star for what was a spellbinding display in what is arguably still the biggest race of them all.
“He was the first string for me anyway, so I was happy,” explained Lordan.
“When you’re getting into racing, this is the race you always want to ride in. I’m lucky that I work for Aidan and get to ride good horses and get opportunities.
“I’ve run well in the Derby before and lost nothing in defeat, but I’m just glad today it worked out.
“I was happy once I passed the line, but there is always horses flying home here and yesterday I was thought I was going well then Ryan passed me in the last 50 yards.
“I knew the ones coming to get me would have to stay well and there was always chance they would, but thankfully my horse is a tough, genuine horse.”
Wayne Lordan and Aidan O’Brien with the Betfred Derby trophy (John Walton/PA)
After eight years of working for an operation created to thrive at Epsom in early June, Lordan’s winning ride was one perhaps honed to perfection at the Ballydoyle training centre of excellence.
Now he has his name etched forever on the long and distinguished roll of honour of the blue riband.
O’Brien explained: “Everything at Ballydoyle is about Epsom and this is how the thoroughbred breed is assessed every year.
“Everything at Ballydoyle is left-handed and every piece of work they do they practice going round our Tattenham Corner, even the sprinters.
“It’s the ultimate test really and it has to be that. It’s great for Wayne to win the Derby, he’s a massive part of our team and he rides so many of our big horses in work.
“He’s in every day and it’s a privilege to have him. He’s so straightforward and such a team player, but he can be ruthless when he has to be and he’s strong and determined.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/280548877-scaled.jpg12802560https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.png2025-06-07 16:48:052025-06-07 16:48:05Lambourn fulfils every expectation of Derby hero Lordan
Run over 1m4f the Epsom Oaks is the third of the five English Classics to be run each season and is for 3 year-old fillies.
Did you know? Trainers John Gosden and Aidan O'Brien have won 10 of the last 11 runnings between them and O'Brien has 10 total wins (and counting).
Here at GeeGeez we take a look back at recent winners and highlight the key trends and trainer stats ahead of the 2025 Epsom race – this year run on Friday 6th June 2025 at Epsom racecourse.
23/23 – Ran within the last 5 weeks
20/23 – Finished 1st or 2nd last time out
19/23 – Horses from stall 1 that were unplaced
15/23 – Won over at least 1m2f previously
14/23 – Favourites that were placed
14/23 – Won last time out
9/23 – Irish-trained winners
8/23 – Trained by Aidan O’Brien (10 in total)
6/23 – Won by the favourite (1 joint)
6/23 – Ran in the English 1,000 Guineas
5/23 – Returned a double-figure price
4/23 – Ridden by Ryan Moore
4/23 – Trained by John Gosden
2/23 – Trained by Ralph Beckett
1/23 – Had run over 1m4f before
0/23 – Had run at the course before
8 of the last 18 favourites were unplaced
8 of the last 12 winners came from stalls 5 or lower
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has won the race 10 times
Trainer John Gosden has won 4 of the last 11 runnings
O’Brien and Gosden have won 10 of the last 11 runnings between them
The average winning SP in the last 23 runnings is 10/1
8 past Oaks winners won the Musidora at York earlier that season
Love (2020), Kazzia (2002) and Minding (2016) were the last horses to win both the 1,000 Guineas and Epsom Oaks
The horse from stall 2 has been placed in 8 of the last 23 runnings
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All those Derby trials wins will have come to nought if a Ballydoyle colt doesn’t win next Saturday’s Betfred-sponsored 12-furlong skirting of Epsom Downs, writes Tony Stafford. Never mind Epsom, Aidan O’Brien and his Coolmore backers have turned winning French colts’ Classics this year into an art form.
At least, when future French turfistes look back at the record books, they will maybe delude themselves that the title Mrs Susan Magnier, stored away for further use in the copious Coolmore blue-chip name bank, had been for French-owned and trained Classic winners. But, no, Henri Matisse and Camille Pissarro, respective winners of the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) and yesterday’s Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) are just two more Aidan O’Brien examples of the right horse in the right race.
The human Pissarro, born in the (now US-owned) Vigin Islands but soon living in France, started life four decades the earlier of the pair and went through various stages of Impressionism. He died right at the start of the 20th Century (1903).
Matisse, a draughtsman as much as a painter, survived from 1869 into the middle of the last century. Great artists both, great names for a Classic winner, especially those staged in the land of their distinction.
Just as in the Poulains, Ryan Moore gave yesterday’s winner an exemplary ride. Camille Pissarro had made his own impression as he finished third with a strong finish over the mile at Longchamp while Ryan swept home in front on Henri Matisse. Henri will be staying at a mile at Royal Ascot in the St James’s Palace Stakes, and no doubt a clash with Irish 2,000 winner Fields Of Gold, in a fortnight.
I heard someone say yesterday watching the coverage that Aidan reckons the Prix du Jockey Club is more a race for milers than authentic 12-furlong Derby horses, thus none of the trial winners was in yesterday’s line-up.
Two Ballydoyle colts were in the 16-strong field though and it is always easy to earmark outsiders from the stable as cannon fodder if they are there to control the pace. That was the perceived lot of Trinity College, not such a massive 'rag' considering the make-up of the race – at 24/1.
He was quickly away under Wayne Lordan but wasn’t allowed to have it all his own way as Bowmark, the second string working on behalf of the Gosdens’ number one (Detain) and ridden by Tom Marquand, was busily doing his half-spoiler role for the horse that came home a close sixth in that busy end to the French 2,000.
Ryan, from stall one, was always in a lovely clear spot on the rail, a couple of lengths behind the leaders and nowhere near as far back as his mount had been in the mile race. His most dangerous (and probably only) moment came when he needed to scoot past Trinity College, a Dubawi colt running in the colours of Derrick Smith’s son Paul, best known hitherto for the St Leger winner Kingston Hill. Not much room, but he found what there was.
Paul will have loved to be involved so closely in the action here and Trinity College added to his already sterling service in the race by staying on for fourth and 70 grand which Paul shares with the usual suspects. They were behind Cualificar (Godolphin, Andre Fabre and William Buick) and Detain, ridden by Christophe Soumillon.
Wootton Bassett added further lustre to the riches provided to Coolmore Stud with this latest Classic success and he also sired the third home, running in the Abdullah colours of Field Of Gold.
With £708k available to the winner, trainers and owners with horses in the big field outside the main placings would be excused for looking further down the list. They would find, if they didn’t know already, that French money may be generous and with premiums for French-breds doubly so, but they only go down to fifth place, that 35k going to a horse from the Graffard stable.
As to the premium qualification, only the runner-up, a son of Lope De Vega running for Godolphin, was French-bred and that entitled connections to an extra £100k or so.
An unsatisfactory day for the French then – shame after the Fellowes/Shoemark affair and Shes Pretty in the 1,000. Sadly, Charlie’s Luther, fourth in their 2,000 was on the outside all the way and dropped out of the lucrative places this time.
And so to Epsom. I was talking to someone close to the stable a week or so ago and his slant on the ease in the Derby market of The Lion In Winter was explained away as “He goes to France”. They don’t always get it right.
Once backed back into favouritism after the initial shock of that Dante Stakes sixth place when he didn’t run too badly under a less than full-on Ryan Moore finish, he is now available at 6/1 and you never know how much transformation Aidan could have wrought in the short time since.
Everyone now assumes Ryan will be on the Leopardstown trial winner Delacroix, but while he looked very good that day, the opposition in a five-horse affair (two O’Brien tailenders) was hardly extremely testing. Ruling Court, the 2,000 Guineas winner, and the Dante winner Pride Of Arras complete the quartet at the top of the betting.
I was very impressed with the way the Beckett three-year-old creamed through the field on the far rail and the Ackroyd family horse would make a nice change in the way of such as Sir Percy in leaving the race of the season to a smaller owner.
My first fleeting experience of the man who was by 2025 to have an authentic Derby prospect, a year after his Arc win with Bluestocking and with a yard with close to 200 horses in his care, came approaching a quarter century earlier; in fact it might have been even longer ago.
Ralph had just arrived as a pupil assistant to David Loder, who at the time was the king of the well-prepared first-time-out two-year-old. Ralph used to smilingly and good-naturedly amble his way around Sefton Lodge stables, in the manner of a youthful Pride And Prejudice aristocrat, but it seemed his casual style didn’t cut too much ice with 100 miles an hour Master Loder.
I seem to recall just one comment made by his then employer. “Lazy bugger!” All that time afterwards, the mature Ralph still seems to lope his way pleasantly around, and when he does agree to an interview, it’s still the same languid delivery. We’re not all the same, thankfully.
And now after what one might have regarded as an inauspicious start, Ralph Beckett is truly part of the powerhouse of English training.
Staged at The Curragh racecourse the Irish 1,000 Guineas is a Group One class race for 3 year-olds fillies. Run over 1m the contest normally takes place each year in May and was first run in 1921.
Horses that contested the English 1,000 Guineas often go onto run in this race, while winners of the Irish 1,000 Guineas tend head to Royal Ascot for the Coronation Stakes.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has won four of the last 8 runnings, while in total, O’Brien has won the race a staggering 10 times. Veteran handler Dermot Weld has also won the race 6 times in total and in two of the last three - both times with jockey Chris Hayes riding.
We take a look back at past winners, plus have all the key trends ahead of the 2025 Irish 1,000 Guineas – run on Sunday 25th May 2025.
12/13 - Irish bred horses
12/13 - Had at least 3 previous runs
12/13 - Had won over at least 7f before
10/13 - Had won between 1-2 times
10/13 - Ran in the last 6 weeks
10/13 - Favourites placed in the top 3
9/13 - Ran between 4-8 times before
8/13 - Drawn between stalls 6-11 (inc)
8/13 - Hadn’t run at the Curragh before
7/13 - Ran at Newmarket last time out
6/13 - Ran in the English 1000 Guineas last time (2 winners: Winter (2017) and Hermosa (2019))
5/13 - Trained by Aidan O’Brien (10 wins in total)
5/13 - Winning favourites
3/13 - Ridden by Ryan Moore
2/13 - Ridden by Chris Hayes (2 of last 3)
2/13 - Trained by Dermot Weld (2 of last 3 and 6 wins in total)
8 of the last 12 winners were placed 1st or 2nd last time out (4 won)
The average winning SP in the last 13 runnings is 13/2
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A friend asked me the other day, “If a bookmaker offered you even money about Aidan O’Brien winning the Derby this year, would you take it?”, writes Tony Stafford.
The question arose after the pre-York blanket dominance in the trials at Chester, Lingfield and Leopardstown and before the possibly temporary reputation tarnishing of The Lion In Winter, that one in the ruck behind Ralph Beckett’s Pride Of Arras in the Dante Stakes.
Amazingly, in view of the ease of the Ackroyd family’s horse’s victory on the Knavesmire, The Lion In Winter has hardened back in price after an initial ease by the bookmakers. In some places he’s a shorter price than his York conqueror.
Michael Tabor had suggested the day before that The Lion In Winter was running later in the piece than is normal for returning Derby candidates from the Ballydoyle stable but then, on June 7, the Derby is as late as it can be for a first Saturday in the month.
Anyway, the latest ante-post prices for the big race list the Leopardstown trial winner Delacroix as favourite at 5/2 ahead of Godolphin’s 2,000 Guineas hero Ruling Court (4/1), emphasised by trainer Charlie Appleby during York as firmly on target for Epsom Downs.
But after him and the two Dante protagonists, three of the next four are from the Coolmore team and their joint odds take out 66% so appreciably more than the requisite 50% for even money. And that’s not all their potential runners which, as we said last week, do not preclude an O’Brien win at long odds.
I was minutely involved with the win of Oath in 1999 and for me that seems not so long ago, recalling embarrassingly cavorting next to the unsaddling enclosure with his lad after his win for the Sir Henry Cecil stable and the Thoroughbred Corporation of Prince Ahmed Salman. It’s salutary to remember that Aidan hadn’t even won the race by that time.
Now he has – and how – with ten of the last 24 (or 42%) falling to him. Interestingly, until he starts getting different owners in the yard, he still won’t match either Sue (wife of John) Magnier and Tabor who have 11 thanks to the win of the Andre Fabre-trained Pour Moi in 2011 on top of Aidan’s ten.
By last year, they had all exceeded the nine of Lester Piggott, the foremost Derby jockey of all time. Piggott’s skill at riding the difficult Epsom track was only exceeded by the powers of persuasion he used to get on a feasible candidate when he didn’t have a retained ride (and sometimes when he did!) through his long career.
As I write on this Sunday morning, there are still 20 days remaining before the Derby and you can add another three since the Dante. In normal circumstances, 23 days between runs is rarely regarded as inadequate time to recover from the early exertions and build on that for an improved display next time.
Last year, City Of Troy had 28 days between an abject performance in the 2,000 Guineas and his dominating display in the Derby. What’s a few days when they are being managed by a genius? In the meantime, Delacroix is a solid enough flag-bearer having won as I said last week the significant Leopardstown Trial in such authoritative manner.
A closer look reveals O’Brien’s first two Derby wins in successive years, Galileo and High Chaparral, were the second and third of his 17 wins in the former Derrinstown, now Leopardstown, Derby Trial (talk about hegemony – it’s more like annihilation of his training colleagues). No Derby winner has come from the race since, although Dylan Thomas in 2006 won the Irish Derby and later the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Another superb winner of the race was subsequent peerless stayer Yeats who was scratched from the 2004 Derby for which he was the hot favourite at the time through injury a few days before. Four Gold Cup wins in succession guaranteed his place in racing folklore and was the crowning achievement for David and Diane Nagle’s Barronstown Stud, never mind its being responsible for 29 winners of 44 Classic or Group 1 races around the world.
All in all, I say to my friend, therefore, on the stats alone, evens would be a good price, if anyone would be daring enough to offer it. I do have a sneaking feeling though that Pride Of Arras, with only two – both winning – career runs behind him, may have at least the potential improvement of the hitherto harder-worked Delacroix or even The Lion In Winter.
Then we always have the debate about which horse is the more likely to have progressed and will stretch out even further for trying 1m4f around Epsom. Usually, the class horses keep going and all the worries about stamina every year are dispelled in the two minutes and 40 seconds or thereabouts. Few, if any, of the O’Brien runners in the Derby have failed through lack of stamina. Normally, class tells.
The Coolmore boys like a little insurance and while they weren’t intimately involved in ownership at the business end of the 2,000 Guineas, it didn’t upset them too much that the Godolphin winner Ruling court is by their US-based stallion Justify, sire of course of last year’s Derby hero City Of Troy.
The 2025 Kentucky Derby a couple of weeks ago was a setback for Journalism, a horse they had bought into with a view of his standing as a stallion in their Ashford Stud in Kentucky alongside Justify and their other Triple crown winner American Pharoah when he retires from racing for the Michael McCarthy stable.
He had been outstayed at Churchill Downs by Godolphin homebred Sovereignty, but that horse was immediately declared an absentee from the next leg of the Triple Crown, the half a furlong shorter Preakness Stakes run at Pimlico last Saturday evening.
In his absence, Journalism, understandably, was the even-money favourite to get his name on the Classic honours board and, after a bit of a barging match, got up close home by half a length from Gosger.
In the old days, any interference in races in the US brought instant and inevitable disqualification. Not so now it seems, yet in France, as in everything else in that country, they have their own standards. I’ve had a few looks at the disqualification of Charlie Fellowes’ Shes Perfect after their 1,000 Guineas last weekend and declare it as legalised thieving.
Interference to Zarigana was negligible and Kieran Shoemark on the original winner was blameless, instantly correcting her leftward drift by changing his whip into his left hand. Zarigana did have a tiny inconvenience, mainly from the horse in the sandwich between the two fillies, and probably suffered the most difficulty when Mickael Barzalona dropped his whip a furlong from home. His negligence was rewarded with a promoted Classic winner. Shameful.
That coming eight days after Shoemark’s being outmanoeuvred in the 2,000 Guineas by William Buick on Ruling Court was a double kick in the teeth for the rider. Worse came in between, a public dressing-down by John Gosden, saying he and son Thady would now be choosing “best available” for their horses not already committed to retained owner arrangements.
The first painful effect of that came on Saturday in the Lockinge Stakes. Lead Artist, on his favoured fast ground, turned around Sandown form to edge out Dancing Gemini by a neck over the straight mile. In eight previous races, Shoemark had been in the saddle. Here he was supplanted on the Juddmonte-owned four-year-old by Oisin Murphy. Some transgressions are treated more leniently than others. Is that what two-tier justice is about?
The winner’s prize was £226k. Generally, jockeys receive around 8.5% of the winner’s prize, so I reckon Kieran’s ejection has already cost him £20k and the embarrassment that goes with it. That John Gosden! Some man!
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