There was one new king in the procession and another in the record books here on Tuesday, as a double for Aidan O’Brien on Royal Ascot’s opening day left him in sole possession of the all‑time record for winners at the meeting.
Frankie Dettori did all he could aboard Chaldean, the hot favourite, in the St James’s Palace Stakes, but when Paddington and Ryan Moore breezed past him just over a furlong out, O’Brien’s 83rd royal victory was as good as in the book.
So too was Moore’s 75th, and the 76th was not long delayed, arriving aboard Vauban in the final race on the card to put him just one behind Dettori on the royal meeting’s roll of honour.
Dettori, on the other hand, had a miserable afternoon, one that recalled his trials and tribulations here last year, with three seconds and, worse, a nine-day ban for careless riding aboard the King’s horse, Saga, in the Wolferton Stakes.
Saga also featured in Dettori’s difficult royal meeting last year, when he finished fast and just a fraction too late in the Britannia Handicap and narrowly failed to give the Queen a winner at what proved to be her final Royal Ascot. This time around his issues were at the start, as Dettori shifted right in the early stages and caused interference to two of his rivals.
Such is O’Brien’s current form that Moore, his No 1 jockey, could well be past Dettori, and second only to Lester Piggott for royal meeting winners, by Wednesday evening.
Paddington, who ran on strongly to win by three‑and‑three‑quarter lengths, was O’Brien’s ninth success in the St James’s Palace and followed a record 10th victory for the stable in the Group Two Coventry Stakes, with River Tiber.
Paddington started his three‑year-old career in a seven-furlong handicap at Naas in late March, a somewhat unusual setting-off point for one of O’Brien’s Group One prospects.
Two months later, he was a Classic winner in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and now, less than three months on, the clear leader among this year’s crop of three-year-old milers.
The fact that Chaldean kept on to finish second after Ryan Moore swept into the lead showed that Dettori had judged the fractions well, but his mount had no response as Paddington kicked on.
Dettori is still, for the moment at least, the meeting’s leading active jockey, with one more career win here than Moore, but he too is struggling to resist the march of the Ballydoyle machine.
“Obviously, when Frankie is in front, it is always very dangerous, but Ryan gave him a masterful ride,” O’Brien said. “He didn’t panic, produced him and he quickened. He is able to quicken very well, that is the big thing and what makes good horses great.
“The lads [in the Coolmore Stud syndicate] will have to think about whether they want to go to Goodwood for the Sussex Stakes [in early August].”
It would be no great surprise to see River Tiber lining up for the St James’s Palace Stakes in 12 months’ time, as the 11-8 favourite justified the glowing reports that had been preceding his appearance in the Coventry and is now the early favourite for next year’s 2,000 Guineas.
“When we started working him, he always looked very good,” O’Brien said. “You need the best horse to win the Coventry. He was never disappointing in any of his work and the stronger the work got, the stronger he became. And at the end, the last piece of work he was doing too well, so that was my worry.
“He has matured a lot, put on a lot of weight, and he just finds it very easy. You could see him through the first part of the race today, he was going very easily.”
Earlier on the card, Hollie Doyle rode her first Group One winner at the royal meeting – and her fourth here in all – as Bradsell, last year’s Coventry Stakes winner, kept on well to edge out Highfield Princess by a length in the King’s Stand Stakes.
His victory justified the decision of Archie Watson, Bradsell’s trainer, to persuade his owners to pay a £35,000 supplementary fee to get him into the race.
“I think Hollie and I have had 200-odd winners together now,” Watson said. “She’s been massive for my career and I hope vice versa.
“What I’ve always said about Hollie is that she is very consistent, she doesn’t make many mistakes. For a yard like mine, to have one of the top five jockeys in the country, which she is, to ride our horses is just fantastic for us.”
