Dramatised (5-2 favourite) blitzed her rivals to win the Group Two Queen Mary Stakes on the second day of Royal Ascot 2022.
Under Danny Tudhope – who had won the last two races on the opening day of the meeting on Tuesday – the Karl Burke-trained daughter of Showcasing made it two wins from two starts. And the two-year-old, who is held in high regard by her North Yorkshire-based trainer, could have a big future.
Having made an impressive debut at Newmarket in April she was sent off a warm 5-2 favourite ahead of American raider Love Reigns.
She was always travelling well under Tudhope and she burst through with a furlong left of the five-furlong sprint. Despite dropping his whip, Tudhope allowed Dramatised to stretch clear of her rivals and she scored by a length-and-three-quarters from Maylandsea (28-1), with Maria Branwell (9-1) a further length-and-a-quarter back in third just ahead of Wesley Ward's Love Reigns (11-4).
The Lowther Stakes at York is a likely aim now for Dramatised and trainer Burke believes she can go to the very top.
Burke said: "She's shown us that all the way along, physically since Newmarket she's done nothing but strengthen and improve. I thought she looked in great condition today, she ran like I dared to dream and hope she would.
"It's a great result, it's a great result for Clipper (Logistics), for Steve Parkin and Joe Foley, they're putting a huge amount into the business and they deserve days like this.
"She lengthens and she keeps going. I'm sure she'll stay six furlongs, although Danny said to keep her at five furlongs for the moment.
"There's still more to come from her. She has physically grown over the last two months and she is a very good filly."
On plans, he added: "Her work has been excellent – she's a bit of a diva, so we've just had to keep a lid on her, but she handled everything really well.
"She's the quickest two-year-old I've trained over five furlongs, but I'm sure she will stay six. The Lowther and Morny could be options for her and later in the year the Cheveley Park."
Landing his third win in a row, jockey Tudhope said on dropping his whip: "I meant to spin it and sometimes you lose it. I lost it a furlong and a half out.
“Dramatised is obviously very good. She has so much talent, so much speed, and I feel like I maybe went too soon. She got a bit lonely out in front, but she is an unbelievable filly.
“With two-year-olds, you want to find a nice two-year-old filly or colt at this time of year, and we've got another star here. The world is her oyster."
Of the runner-up Maylandsea, her trainer Michael Bell said: "It was a very good run and I think the winner is obviously a very good filly. She is very smart.
"Had we been drawn next to her, we'd obviously have finished a bit closer, but the winner is obviously good.
"She is a filly that has a massive future. Her temperament is to die for. She is going to be a filly who will bring her owners a lot of fun going forward.
"There are no immediate plans. There is the Empress or the Cherry Hinton (at Newmarket) – we'll see where the winner rocks up. The winner will have a penalty in the Cherry Hinton, so the Cherry Hinton might be the race."
While of Maria Branwell, David O'Meara added: "She has run well, hasn't she. She did the business at Sandown and she has produced a run there today, so we're delighted with her.
"She ran like she might stay six (furlongs), but I would not necessarily be in a rush to go straight to six. The Lowther might be possible target, we'll have a chat and see."
Eldar Eldarov (5-2 favourite) just grabbed a narrow victory over Zechariah (20-1) in the Group Two Queen’s Vase to put down a St Leger marker.
The Roger Varian-trained son of Dubawi had won over a mile at Nottingham in October and 1m2f at Newcastle last month. And stepped up in distance to 1m6f and in class he scored again under David Egan – but it was very close.
Al Qareem went off in front and set a strong gallop. He was still in the lead on the turn for home but first Zechariah and Colin Keane challenged. And it looked like the Martyn Meade-trained outsider had timed his run to perfection.
But the fast-finishing Eldar Eldarov drew upsides and the two hit the line almost as one. After a long wait it was the favourite who had just prevailed by the narrowest of distances, a nose. Hafit (9-1) was a further neck away in third.
This win has put Eldar Eldarov in the picture for Classic success later in the season, with both Betfair and Paddy Power cutting the winner to 6-1 for the St Leger at Doncaster in September.
On whether his horse had got the verdict, Varian said: "I wasn't sure. I thought we were a good winner before the line and a good winner after the line, but we got the bob wrong, which sometimes can go against you.
"We've got the give the second credit, he ran a great race, we're all elated and he was on the wrong side of a tight photograph so I feel for the second.
"I'm delighted for this horse and these connections, they're supporting the industry very strongly, they're supporting me. Days like this are very special to all of us and to get the horse home in front with a lot of expectation is always satisfying.
"The Irish Derby came too soon, he didn't thrive in the spring. We had a chat about him in the winter, he won at Nottingham in a similar style to the Derby winner won at Nottingham – those end of October maidens. Look at the horses that come out of them, Golden Horn, this year's Derby winner (Desert Crown).
"We won nicely so of course you're excited about him, hoping you can get to a Derby trial, which we couldn't do with him. When he went to Newcastle we thought, 'if we're going to Ascot we've got to run', but he was only 90 per cent. He had to run to get a run under his belt, that was a strong novice.
"Then we were unsure, King Edward or the Vase, the ground we were unsure about as well. I thought on fast ground that he looks a horse laden with stamina, let's go the distance, jump out and ride him to get home. He got every inch and David said he couldn't pull him up.
"Who knows what the future holds in terms of trip, but he obviously stays very well. I'm delighted, there's a lot to come from this horse, I think his best days are ahead of him."
And on future plans, the Newmarket handler added: "I think he is only going to improve, he is a late-maturing horse. He put in one hell of a performance and you would think looking down the road, he could develop into a St Leger horse and even looking to next year hopefully he can keep improving."
Winning jockey, Egan said: "He was really, really good. I thought he'd won, it's great for connections to have a Royal Ascot winner.
"He's a tough horse who I think will be even better with a bit of ease in the ground. It's riding very quick and we weren't sure if he was going to go on the ground, he did but there's a lot more to come from this horse, for sure.
"He's a true stayer and to do it at Royal Ascot shows his class."
The narrow runner-up Zechariah is trained by the father and son team of Martyn and Freddie Meade and Meade senior said: "It is always a nod, isn't it? Can you believe it. One mile six, you think, 'crikey, you don't need to lose by that much do you, really?', but that is racing for you.
"We thought we'd got it for a minute, but you can't really tell. We were sort of in the stands and were sort of too far away to really tell. Looking at the photo, it was a difficult one to call, I would have thought.
"A dead-heat would have been a better result. We have been waiting to run him over this sort of distance and he has been building up to it. Of course, the betting didn't show that, but we really had a lot of faith in him and it could have been well-placed at one stage.
"Obviously today was a bit of an experiment to make sure our judgement was right that he would get the one mile six, and clearly that has been shown now and so that opens up a lot more opportunities.
"He could be a cup horse in time. We ran him at Lingfield and he didn't really cope with that in the (Derby) trial and that just wasn't really right for him.
"We thought this would be a nice flat track, which would suit him and it did. He ran lovely apart from the result."
Part owned by Aquis Farm, connections could head Down Under with him in the future.
Meade added: "That is always on the cards with people like Aquis, but they have their horses with us to run here, so that is actually not a thing. He might do better over there and we will have to see, but he certainly has got it (trip) and he saw it out well.
"He has been out in front for quite a bit of time and had he had a bit of company then that would undoubtedly have helped him. The St Leger could be something to think about. We'll see."
