Review of Royal Ascot 2007
Five fabulous days racing from Royal Ascot were brillantly covered by the BBC and ATR for the armchair viewer.
That there is no such thing as a certainty was clearly evident on day one with the defeats of Cockney Rebel and George Washington. Both were expected to win but it transpires that Cockney Rebel fractured his pelvis while George Washington was clearly ring rusty. Not surprising considering he had been at stud and had quite a few wives ! He was running on well at the end of the race once Mick Kinane got to work on him. Miss Andretti was impressive in the sprint. In the Ascot Stakes, Enjoy The Moment was well backed but a shade unlucky in running.
The second day belonged to Manduro who put up a superb performance in the Prince of Wales Stakes. Any horse that Andre Fabre sends across the channel needs serious consideration. When will we learn ?
Jimmy Fortune was the other star on Wednesday in riding a treble which helped him on his way to being top jockey at the meeting.
Day three belonged to Yeats who won the Gold Cup for the second year. Geordieland ran a terrific race in finishing second. Sergeant Cecil was reluctant to go to the stalls and obviously had an off day. Perhaps he had a headache or just does not like Ascot. On his form with Geordieland at York he would have been close to Yeats. However the best horse won and lets hope we see him again next year at Royal Ascot.
Day four saw a lot of rain which altered the going. Indian Ink caused a real shock in the Coronation Stakes beating all the top three year old fillies. Finsceal Beo looked in superb condition beforehand but did not like the going.
Day five on Saturday with more rain showed that those drawn high on the straight course had an advantage, especially if they acted on the softened going.
Soldiers Tale in the Golden Jubilee Stakes put up a very game performance under a strong ride from Johnny Murtagh just getting the better of Takeover Target who was placed for the second year running.
Michael Hills rode a very good tactical race on Maraahel in the Hardwicke Stakes. Scorpion was backed as though defeat was out of the question. He was impressive at Epsom where he had a pacemaker in Septimus but with no pacemaker this time he was outgunned by Maraahel and Michael Hills.
Dark Missile with young William Buick on board was a clever winner of the Wokingham Stakes. Intrepid Jack was second for the third time this season. Perhaps he can go one better this year in the Bunbury Cup at Newmarket in July.
Pevensey was well backed for the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes and duly won giving the writer something to shout about.
Enjoy The Moment did likewise in the Queen Alexandra Stakes and showed that he was unlucky in the Ascot Stakes. He now goes for the Northumberland Plate on Saturday 30th June at Newcastle. There he will again meet Greenwich Meantime who won the Chester Cup and was placed in the Northumberland Plate last year along with River Alhaarth. Lets hope the rain stops and racing can go ahead. For all the runners and riders go to at the races.
The next big race after the Northumberland Plate will be the Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on Saturday 7th July where Authorized will be taking on the older horses which could include George Washington.
Twenty years ago Mtoto and Reference Point fought out a tremendous duel over the final two furlongs in the Eclipse with victory going to the older horse Mtoto. Reference Point started favourite at evens that day and subsequently went on to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot at the end of July where Mtoto was withdrawn because of the soft ground. The next year (1988) Mtoto won both the Coral Eclipse Stakes and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".