Tag Archive for: Reaching High

Ascot Eyecatcher Reaching High will get his day in the sun

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There remains a big prize to be won with Reaching High, the royal runner who suffered a luckless passage in the Ascot Stakes.

Sent to Willie Mullins upon the retirement of Sir Michael Stoute by the King and Queen, the big meeting had understandably been his aim.

Draw one, though, Ryan Moore was always looking for a way out having been trapped on the rails, meaning he finished full of running in ninth. He is entered back at Ascot Saturday, but the Northumberland Plate would look a likely target.

Reaching High out of luck for the King and Queen in Ascot Stakes

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Hopes of a winner for the King and Queen were dashed on the opening day of Royal Ascot, as the well-fancied Reaching High finished a never-nearer ninth in the Ascot Stakes.

A first horse trained by Willie Mullins to carry the royal colours, Reaching High was the 11-4 favourite in the hands of Ryan Moore – but while he looked full of running rounding the home turn, he was all dressed up with nowhere to go against the rail and when he did eventually get out it was all too late.

Up front Henry de Bromhead’s fellow Irish raider Ascending (20-1) knuckled down under Billy Lee in the concluding stages of the two-and-a-half-mile contest to beat Nurburgring, with the latter’s trainer Joseph O’Brien also saddling the third and fourth home in Comfort Zone and Leinster.

Queen Camilla watches the Ascot Stakes
Queen Camilla watches the Ascot Stakes (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Mullins said: “Ryan just said he got no run. He’s finished full of running, but just got no luck in running, so it’s disappointing.

“Their Majesties are very easy, lovely people to train for and it’s a pleasure. There’s a bit more pressure when you train one for them at this meeting, but to bring one here with a real chance is what we like to do. Hopefully this fellow will show us how good he is at some stage later in the season.”

Mullins added: “Poniros (17th) was probably a little too keen and had run his race before he got to the straight, so it’s back to the drawing board with him.”

As for the winner, De Bromhead explained the Ascot Stakes was not even his first choice.

Ascending held off Nurburgring
Ascending held off Nurburgring (David Davies/PA)

“I’m delighted. I wanted to go for the mile and six (Copper Horse Stakes), I thought he had a great chance but he didn’t get in so we ran in this one and now we’ve won – happy days,” said De Bromhead.

“He’s just a star. He was bought to go hurdling and he ran very well over hurdles but he never really loved it, so we said we’d go back on the Flat.

“I think we’ll stay on the Flat, he seems to love it so I think we should.

“Billy opted to go out and get a bit of light, the horse travelled beautifully and he gave him a super ride. He knew he had a kick so he used the kick a bit earlier than he had planned.

“It’s amazing to win any of these races, we’re fortunate enough to train good horses. We’re very lucky.”

Willie Mullins eyeing famous Ascot success with Reaching High

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Willie Mullins could be set for another landmark occasion in his glittering training career when he saddles Reaching High for the King and Queen at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

The master of Closutton has long been at the top of the training tree and it should perhaps be no surprise that the first man to pass a century of winners at the Cheltenham Festival and who also holds his own on the Flat is the first Irishman to train for the reigning monarch.

If Mullins was feeling any nerves after being bestowed such an honour, he can take comfort from heading to the familiar territory of the Ascot Stakes with Closutton’s royal inmate, a race he has won four times and which came immediately on Reaching High’s radar after a pleasing stable bow at Leopardstown.

The King and Queen watching their horse Desert Hero at the St Leger
The King and Queen watching their horse Desert Hero at the St Leger (Danny Lawson/PA)

“I’ve been very happy since his first run, he did everything nicely at Leopardstown and if he could run a similar type of race at Ascot I would be very pleased,” said Mullins reflecting on Reaching High’s short head defeat in the hands of Jody Townend.

“It would be great to have a winner for Their Majesties. It’s great of them to send me a pedigree like this to train and we’re hoping for the best and that it all goes well on the day.”

Mullins of course has previous with the royal family at their own meeting having been the man who saddled Simenon to narrowly finish second to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Estimate when she achieved a famous Gold Cup success in 2013.

Estimate (left) edged out Simenon to win the Gold Cup in 2013
Estimate (left) edged out Simenon to win the Gold Cup in 2013 (Steve Parsons/PA)

Estimate was trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by Ryan Moore and it is perhaps fitting that Mullins’ first horse since being added to the royal roster is a former Stoute-trained offspring of Estimate set to be partnered on Tuesday by Moore.

Mullins though, is determined to enjoy his week attending Flat racing’s annual jamboree, even if the magnitude of victory for the King and Queen will see him bookmarked in racing history yet again.

“Why wouldn’t you look forward to Royal Ascot,” said Mullins. “Yes we’ll have a few runners and hopefully a winner, but it’s sort of a busman’s holiday that gives you a good chance to get round and meet people who I don’t get to meet at Cheltenham.

“While the Flat trainers are working away, I can catch up with all our owners just like the Flat trainers do while we’re busy during Cheltenham and it works well. If we can then get a winner it’s a bonus, even one in the first four is great.”

Cheltenham hero Poniros will be in action at Royal Ascot
Cheltenham hero Poniros will be in action at Royal Ascot (Mike Egerton/PA)

Mullins currently has 10 Royal Ascot winners to his name and will also bid for a Copper Horse Stakes hat-trick with Charlus on the opening day card, while the biggest threat to Reaching High could in fact come from within his own Closutton camp in the form of Triumph Hurdle hero Poniros.

Owned by Brighton and Hove Albion supremo Tony Bloom, for who Mullins saddled Stratum to win back-to-back Queen Alexandra Stakes in 2021 and 2022, the Ascot Stakes marks what could be a busy summer on the level for the shock 100-1 Cheltenham Festival scorer who was bought with dual-purpose designs.

“Poniros is well entitled to go there and he ran well there at the meeting last year,” continued Mullins.

“I think we could have some fun with him this summer and he would be one we can look forward to in all of those staying handicaps.”