Lazzat runs home and then runs free in Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot
The aftermath of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes had almost as much drama as the race and it was certainly more extended. Lazzat, the 9-2 winner, galloped loose around the track for about a quarter of an hour and delayed the presentations after throwing his jockey, James Doyle, shortly after crossing the line.
'I did apologise to the king and queen when I went to collect my prize,' Doyle said, 'and said I should have stayed in Pony Club a bit longer than I did. We had a good laugh about that.'
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It had already been a good meeting for Doyle, with three winners for his main employer, the increasingly powerful Wathnan Racing operation, but a Group One win on a horse that was bought to join Wathnan less than a month ago took his week to a new level.
Lazzat was quickly away and soon leading a group of 10 horses racing down the middle of the track. While the Japanese hope Satono Reve, backed down to start favourite at 2-1, fired a serious challenge at him in the final furlong under João 'Magic Man' Moreira, Lazzat was a half-length in front at the line, with another recent Wathnan purchase, Flora Of Bermuda, another three lengths away in third.
'It's been an amazing week and that has capped it off,' Richard Brown, Wathnan's racing manager, said. 'What an amazing horse race, he's locked up with the Japanese horse and they've gone a long way clear in a six-furlong sprint. That was an absolutely phenomenal race to watch.
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'When you saw him [Satono Reve] come in, he's a monster walking round here but that is a very, very brave performance. That's two brilliant rides from James from the front.' Doyle had won the opening Chesham Stakes on Humidity.
Japan's wait for a first Royal Ascot winner goes on. Satono Reve ran a fine race to finish a half-length second, but he raced in a group of five runners near the stand rail as Lazzat led a larger group in the middle of the track. Had he enjoyed a little more of a tow into the race, it might well have been a different story.
Charlie Appleby was on a miserable run of 37 losers at the Royal meeting dating back to the final day in 2022 as Rebel's Romance went to post for the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes. The most dependable and high-achieving horse in the yard delivered for his trainer when he needed it with a one-and-three-quarter-length defeat of Al Riffa.
William Buick sent Rebel's Romance to the front well over a furlong out and the seven-times Group One winner stayed on strongly all the way to the line. He will now attempt to win an eighth Group One, taking his prize money earnings past £11m in the process, in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes over the same course and distance next month.
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'I've got a picture of this fellow on my bedside table, he means that much to us all,' Appleby said. 'Full credit to the horse first and foremost, and full credit to all the team. It has been a tough week and that is what you expect when you come here. It is the Olympics. You can come here thinking you are fully loaded and have great chances, and you can walk away with excuses, but that's racing.
Pontefract 2.10 Bleep Test 2.40 Roman Secret 3.10 Creatif 3.40 Meribella 4.15 Captain Potter (nap) 4.50 Partisan Hero (nb) 5.25 Adorla Of Achill
Hexham 2.18 Huit Reflets 2.48 Beny Nahar Road 3.18 Man Of Action 3.50 Moonbow 4.25 Marty McFly 5.00 Feach Amach
Ffos Las 2.30 Shabu Shabu 3.00 Jimmy Mark 3.30 Magnetite 4.05 Hunky Dory 4.40 King Of The Dance 5.15 Three Yorkshiremen
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'If I was coming into the last day with my last roll of the dice, he was the horse that we needed. It was a fantastic ride by William, and once he kicked for home, I knew it would take a good one to get past him. We've seen so often before that he's a battler, and if something comes to him, he finds again. As it happened, they didn't get close enough.
'It's been a great week for Godolphin [with winners for the John Gosden and Saeed bin Suroor stables] and I'm just glad I've got the monkey off my back there. It's a tough week, but it's a week you've got to enjoy because I know how hard it is to get horses here. To win with them is just a bonus.'
As a gelding, Rebel's Romance's racing career is relatively open-ended and after the King George, the seven-year-old is likely to be aimed towards an attempt to become the first three-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf.
'He's kept the whole yard afloat this week and you just don't come across these horses often in your career,' Appleby said. 'He's our stable favourite and always will be.'
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Ryan Moore, who rode Sober to victory in the concluding Queen Alexandra Stakes, finished the week as the meeting's leading jockey for the 12th time with seven winners, while John & Thady Gosden, who tied with Aidan O'Brien on five winners after both drew a blank on Saturday, won the trainers' award thanks to one more runner-up.
The trainers' award has now been won by either the O'Brien or Gosden stable at the past 11 Royal meetings.
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