American raider Crimson Advocate (9-1) just held on for a narrow victory in the Group Two Queen Mary Stakes on day two of Royal Ascot 2023.
The George Weaver-trained two-year-old, under John Valezquez, blazed a trail on the nearside group in the five-furlong sprint and looked to be heading for a blistering success. But from out of the pack Willie Haggas' Relief Rally (5-1), under Tom Marquand, flew late and as the pair battled close to the line it was Crimson Advocate who just grabbed the verdict on the bob of the head. Crimson Advocate scored by a nose to give trainer Weaver a first winner at the Royal meeting. Karl Burke, who is a Liverpool FC fan and took the five-furlong Queen Mary with recent Haydock Park winner Dramatised last year, sent out the 11-4 favourite Beautiful Diamond. And under Clifford Lee, the daughter of Twilight Son initially was close in behind the eventual winner but couldn't keep up with the pace and was a further two lengths behind back in third. Eve Johnson Houghton's Juniper Berries (18-1) was in fourth, another two lengths away.
Fellow US trainer Wesley Ward has blazed the trail for those who cross the Atlantic and he had won this race four times in the past with Jealous Again (2009), Acapulco (2015), Lady Aurelia (2016), Campanelle (2020) – his first also ridden by top rider Velazquez. But Kentucky-born Weaver, who had only saddled one previous runner at the Royal meeting with the Velazquez-ridden Cyclogenisis finishing down the field in the 2015 Commonwealth Cup, was delighted to have his first.
Weaver said: “You come to a new country, a strange place – I have so much respect for the horses over here; it always seems like the European horses are better grass horses than what we have over there, but I knew our filly was very talented and I was hoping that she would be able to get the job done. Don’t get me wrong, the way she won at Gulfstream, I was very excited about her, but like I said, I have tremendous respect for the trainers and horses that are over here.
“I came here eight years ago with a horse that wasn’t good enough. I thought it would be great if I could ever come back with something that was, and we did. Training horses – horses just kind of show up. When you try to plan things, you try to buy horses for Ascot, it never works out. It’s just – things come together, and this year we’ve got two nice horses to bring over here. Royal Ascot is Royal Ascot, what can you say? You can feel the electricity when you’re here and how special it is, and it’s a beautiful feather for us to have in our cap. It’s not the biggest purse I’ve ever won – Giocomo was a tremendous racehorse, I won the Dubai Golden Shaheen early on, in 2005, and I’ve had some great moments, but this ranks right up there.”
Velazquez, riding his fourth Royal Ascot winner – all three previous ones were for Ward, said: “We knew she was going to be really fast coming out; we tried to get her on the best path for the firmer ground. From yesterday to today the turf is a little bit firmer, so it’s better for our horses, and she showed up today. I rode two races yesterday and the ground was a little soft for our horses – Wesley Ward’s horses break fast and they had a hard time to keep the pace. Today is a little more dry and our horses handle it better. I saw her run in Florida when she won, and I was like, I want to ride that horse at Royal Ascot! I actually texted the trainer right away saying I wanted to go and ride her at Ascot. It’s a dream come true coming here. I try to come here whenever I can; I love to come here and competing here is special. It’s a special place and it’s great to come here and have winners.”
On the runner-up trainer Haggas, who started the day in one of the carriages with his wife Maureen in the Royal parade, said: “We were in front before, and after (the line), but not on. There you go, that’s the way it is, she’s run a great race and made up a lot of ground in the last furlong. She’s run a fine race.”
Villanova Queen (25-1) – under Colin Keane – came late and fast to grab victory in the Kensington Palace Fillies’ Handicap.
The Jessica Harrington-trained four-year-old and Keane came down the outside to land the mile contest by half-a-length from Don't Tell Clare (22-1) with Tarrabb (13-2) a head back in third and Adelaise (7-1) a further half-a-length adrift in fourth. The Classic-winning rider Keane was overjoyed to finally score at the Royal meeting as he came with a perfectly-timed challenge to dual purpose trainer Harrington her fourth following Alpha Centauri (2018), Alpine Star (2020) and Magical Lagoon (2022).
On finally landing his first Royal Ascot winner, Irish champion jockey Keane said: "It's been a while coming (his first Royal Ascot winner) but it's unfortunate for Shane Foley who is injured and couldn't ride. I'm very grateful to Mrs [Jessica] Harrington for giving me the ride. It's a weight off your shoulders – this is the biggest stage in racing and I've been coming here year in and year out trying to get one. It's very satisfying. The race was very straightforward for me – Mrs Harrington said 'ride her wherever she relaxes – if there's a lot of pace early doors let her find her feet'. It was very congested at the bottom of the straight, and another thing she said was 'keep her smooth, challenge wide and have one good run' and it worked. I can't wait for the next one."
Jessica Harrington was not at Ascot but her daughter and assistant Kate said: “I thought she had a good chance, dropping back from Group and listed company into a handicap. On her run the last day, if you go back and look at it she didn’t get the clearest of runs and the time before that the ground was a bit soft in Leopardstown. It’s a real credit to the owners, it’s taken a while to get this filly back to what we knew she was prior to the Irish Guineas last year, where she picked up a bit of an injury. It’s just great to get her back and show the faith in her. She had a very good run last year behind Homeless Songs in the Guineas trial, and we knew this was in her, but it’s great now she’s back on track – onwards and upwards for the rest of the season. In Tipperary when she won, she came wide. She’s a big striding filly and if you knock her off balance, she takes five or six strides to get going again. The only instruction to Colin was, ‘whatever you do, I don’t care if you come wider, because she has to get wide’. Once she passed one horse, I knew she would always get there because she just keeps rolling and rolling.”
She added: “Mum is at Nicky’s (Henderson), she had the sale on Monday and was here yesterday, so just took the one day off and is back here the next two days. She’ll have the champagne ready on ice for Nicky to arrive back this evening!”
Frankie Dettori finally landed his craved-for Royal Ascot victory in the 13th race of the meeting as evens favourite Gregory stayed on well to win the Group Two Queen’s Vase. The popular Italian rider, who will retire at the end of the season, had been frustrated as a number of well-fancied mounts had come up just short. But in the 13th race of this year's meeting he was overjoyed as he finally had his triumph. Having hit the front from a long way out on the John and Thady Gosden-trained three-year-old son of Golden Horn, he held off Saint George (10-1) to score by a length-and-a-half with Chesspiece (11-2) a further three-and-three-quarters-of-a-length back in third. Gregory is now among the market leaders for the St Leger at Doncaster in September and could provide Dettori with a final Classic before he hangs up his boots.
But for now the Italian was delighted to land a 78th Royal Ascot winner 33 years on from his first with Markofdistinction in the Queen Anne Stakes. He said: "I thought this winner was never going to come this year. I had three seconds yesterday, but I thought this horse was my best chance today. I was in front for a long time, and when Oisin (Murphy, on runner-up Saint George) came to me I thought 'oh, no, not another second'. To this horse's credit he really stuck his neck out. It's my last Royal Ascot and to ride a winner is fantastic. It's amazing the reception I got because it's my last season – I'm both sad and happy. I've got another three days here and it's nice to get one on the board. I had no plan, John (Gosden, trainer) left it to me. I got to the front at my own pace and thought that's great, now I'll be very hard to catch."
Jimi Hendrix (22-1) brought up a memorable one-two in the Royal Hunt Cup for trainer Ralph Beckett and owners Chelsea Thoroughbreds as he beat stable-mate Sonny Liston (25-1) in the prestigious handicap. The Beckett-trained duo broke clear on opposite sides of the track towards the business end of the 30-runner mile-contest. Under Ryan Moore, Sonny Liston was travelling well, but he was dealt a knockout blow as Jimi Hendrix was well clear on the far side to give jockey Rossa Ryan a second Royal Ascot winner Highland Chief's Golden Gates Handicap win in 2020.
Beckett said: "What a performance. I actually gave Ryan the choice of the two. It's great to get Sonny Liston back, he has to be ridden like that, we think. I always thought the winner had a day like this in him. He won the Spring Cup nicely enough, but ran poorly on the Rowley Mile last time out. I think we'll avoid the Rowley Mile for now. I thought he'd win the Cambridgeshire last year, but that doesn't matter now because he's won today. You couldn't make it up the same synidcate own the first two, they are very happy. It's been a tough week up to now, it hasn't been going great but to win a Hunt Cup takes a bit of doing, to finish first and second is very satisfying, and it's great for Rossa, he gave him a peach."
