Colin Keane wins opening day feature race at Royal Ascot
FIELD OF GOLD lit up the first day of Royal Ascot with a dominant display in the St James's Palace Stakes.
John and Thady Gosden's colt had been a fast-finishing second behind Ruling Court in the 2000 Guineas before easily winning the Irish equivalent, while the French Guineas winner Henri Matisse was also running.
There was no doubt who emerged as the best of the three though, as Colin Keane breezed through on the 8-11 favourite before bursting clear to beat Henri Matisse by three and a half lengths, with Ruling Court back in third.
𝐖𝐨𝐰. 𝐖𝐨𝐰. 𝐖𝐨𝐰.
Field of Gold absolutely storms home in The St James's Palace Stakes under Colin Keane! ☘️ pic.twitter.com/eUn7gtMDaj — Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) June 17, 2025
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Field Of Gold has now charted the same route as his sire Kingman, who also suffered defeat at Newmarket before gaining Irish redemption and adding Royal Ascot glory when trained by John Gosden.
'Like father, like son,' said Gosden, in reference to Kingman's win in 2014. 'The nerves may have got to the trainer beforehand but thankfully not to the horse or the jockey.
'It was great, a great performance and Oisin (Murphy) did a nice job on Windlord setting an even pace and he came to the head of the straight and he had a lot of horse.
'For a moment I was thinking 'whoops, this is Ascot and it climbs and have we gone a bit soon'. I wasn't watching him, I was looking back as you always have to do here, but fortunately none of the dangers were coming to get him.
'He always impressed as a two-year-old but he was a big boy and slightly outgrew himself. We ran him in France which was a mistake in itself and I should have run him in the Dewhurst and I regret that. But this year he has been exemplary in everything he has done and he's a pleasure to train because he is a pretty relaxed character.'
Gosden admitted the Irish 2,000 Guineas had not originally been part of Field Of Gold's intended campaign, which could influence where the colt heads next.
He added: 'It was never the plan to go to Ireland and he's had a trial and two Guineas and now this which is a lot of racing and we're not even halfway through the season yet.
'Maybe (we'll) freshen him up now and go to the Sussex, but we will see. If we hadn't gone to Ireland, I would have been keen to go to the Eclipse.
'When they win like that and make it look easy they do take a lot out of themselves and I don't want to be someone seen running him back quick in an Eclipse straight off the back of this.'
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