Field of Gold secures St. James's Palace Stakes
Field of Gold pulls ahead in the final stretch to earn a thrilling victory in the Group 1 St. James's Palace Stakes at the 2025 Royal Ascot.
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UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Big names take titles at Royal Ascot as Breeders' Cup fills slots
1 of 3 | Vahva wins Saturday's Grade II Chicago Stakes at Churchill Downs. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs June 23 (UPI) -- Another Royal Ascot meeting is in the books, with the big names landing the championship titles and four Breeders' Cup spots awarded through the "Win and You're In" Challenge program. Two more Breeders' Cup spots were dished out Sunday in South America, as top-level North American racing took a bit of a breather. The weekend ended with a sad note about one of the sport's all-time great trainers. See "News and Notes." Tally ho! Royal Ascot Good weather, big crowds and competitive racing turned Royal Ascot 2025 into a success on all fronts. Coolmore's partners earned the leading owner award for a third consecutive year, the father-son team of John and Thady Gosden got the trainer title for the second straight year, edging out Coolmore' Aidan O'Brien. And Coolmore's go-to rider, Ryan Moore, nailed down his 12th Royal Ascot jockey title. Overall attendance across the five days was 286,541, a 4.8% increase on the 2024 total of 273,528. The Breeders' Cup awards went to Charles Darwin for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint, Ombudsman for the Turf, American Affair for the Turf Sprint and Docklands for the Mile. Felicity Barnard, CEO of Ascot Racecourse, said: "It has been a fantastic week with some brilliant sport to enjoy. I think we have been a window for our sport and I am absolutely thrilled." Having covered the first three days of the meeting earlier, we pick up where we left off with ... Friday The penultimate day of the Royal meeting was "upset day" as both Group 1 races produced shockers. Cercene, previously the owner of just a maiden win, worked to the lead inside the two-furlongs marker in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, and then faced a stern challenge from Zaragana, the adjudged winner of the French Oaks, who previously had only one official defeat. Cercene, with Gary Carroll up for trainer Joseph G. Murphy, bravely held on and won by a neck. January was third for the Coolmore, Aidan O'Brien mob. If the names seem unfamiliar, they well might. Both trainer and jockey won for the first time at the Group 1 level, though Carroll had two previous wins at the Royal meeting. Two races earlier, it was Time for Sandals, a Sands of Mali filly, defeating 3-year-old males in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at 6 furlongs. She raced in a far-side group of six headed most of the way by American raider Shisospicy, responded when asked and held on to win by a neck over Arizona Blaze, who emerged from the stands-side group of 15. The first four placings were double-digit long shots with the favorite, Godolphin's Shadow of Light, reporting fifth. Saturday Lazzat capped off a five-win meeting for Wathnan Racing with a victory in the featured Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at 6 furlongs. The 4-year-old Territories gelding led from the start while racing near the center of the track with the main body of the field. Japan's big Royal meeting hope, Satono Reve, came calling from the smaller, stands side group, but fell short at the finish. Lazzat is something of an international warrior now with respectable showings late last year in Hong Kong and Japan. Rebel's Romance, Godolphin's own globetrotter and two-time Breeders' Cup Turf winner, landed the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths from Al Riffa. The 7-year-old now has wins in the United States, Qatar, Germany, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Noble Champion logged a 25-1 upset win in the meeting's final pattern race, the Group 3 Jersey Stakes for 3-year-olds at 7 furlongs. South America La Kika won Sunday's Group 1 Gran Premio Pamplono at Hipodromo de Monterrico in Lima, Peru, earning a "Win and You're In" spot in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The 4-year-old daughter of Badge of Silver prevailed by 1/2 length after a spirited stretch duel with Mathilde. She got her fifth win from 11 starts and third Group 1 title. Sinsel took Sunday's Group 1 Grande Premio Brasil at Hipodromo da Gavea in Rio De Janeiro, securing a "Win and You're In" starting position in the $5 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. The son of Travers Stakes winner Alpha scored by a nose over Valparaiso. Back in the States: Churchill Downs Vahva pressed the pace in Saturday's $300,000 Grade II Chicago Stakes, and then engaged in a long stretch battle with Claret Beret before edging away to win by 3/4 length. It was another 3 1/4 lengths to Zeitlos in third and the favorite, My Mane Squeeze, settled for fifth. Vahva, a 5-year-old Gun Runner Mare, covered 7 furlongs on a fast track in 1:20.89, just 0.45 second off the track record, with Irad Ortiz Jr. up for trainer Cherie DeVaux. She won the race for the second straight year, reversing a trend that saw three intervening losses. "I'm so proud of her that she's back," DeVaux said. "She's been training well and we were hoping she'd bounce back to form. She sat a really good trip and down the lane I was just hoping she'd have enough punch left. She really loves this racetrack." Thistledown Mo Plex stalked the pace in Saturday's $500,000 Grade III Ohio Derby, took the lead near the quarter pole and held off the favorite, Louisiana Derby second Chunk of Gold, to win by 2 lengths. Peter Pan Stakes runner-up McAfee was third and Hot Springs Stakes winner Clever Again faded from the lead to finish sixth. Mo Plex, a Complexity colt trained by Jeremiah Englehart, covered 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:50.72. Joe Ramos had the mount. The race was the first for Mo Plex since he won the Bay Shore Stakes on April 19 and his first try around two turns. Englehart said Sunday Mo Plex exited the race in good order and is evolving into a contender in the division. He said he's looking to the $500,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 26, the local prep for the $1.25 million Travers, the "Midsummer Derby," on Aug. 23. "Being a Saratoga guy, that was my first thought after the race," the trainer said of a potential start in the Jim Dandy. News and Notes Legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas, beset with serious medical problems, has withdrawn from training and turned over his horses permanently to assistant Sebastian "Seb" Nicholl. Churchill Downs, citing family members, said Lukas, 89, has battled a severe infection that has worsened recently. He has declined aggressive treatment and plans to return home for his remaining time, according to reports. Lukas, a four-time Kentucky Derby winner who started with American Quarter Horses, had 4,967 Thoroughbred wins. His horses earned more than $301 million from 30,607 starts, including 1,105 stakes wins of which 637 were in graded races. He trained 26 Eclipse Award champions, including three crowned Horse of the Year. He was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1999.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Royal Ascot plays strong hand to underpin meeting's continuing success
There were a host of memorable performances and races over the course of Royal Ascot, from Field Of Gold's electrifying surge away from his field in the St James's Palace Stakes to the high-speed duel to the line between Lazzat and Japan's Satono Reve in the Jubilee on Saturday but, in one sense at least, the race emblematic of an almost flawless five days in the sun was the Queen Alexandra Stakes, the quirky but traditional closing event. The race itself was not overly dramatic, but then, a two and three-quarter mile race for an assortment of second-tier stayers and hurdlers rarely is. Yet the noise that swept through the stands as Ryan Moore sent Sober, the 4-5 favourite, into a clear lead two furlongs out was as loud and excited as it had been for the closing stages of the Group One sprint two and a half hours earlier. Advertisement Related: Parades, picnics and parasols: Royal Ascot 2025 – in pictures Saturday's crowd of 71,073 was a 2.6% rise on last year, completing a full set of rising attendance across the five days for the second year in a row. The total attendance of just over 285,000 was just below 5% above last year's figure, and the fact that all but a handful of the final day crowd were still there for the Queen Alexandra tells its own story. While other showpiece venues like Cheltenham and Epsom are struggling to maintain attendances at their main events, Royal Ascot's racegoers just can't get enough of it. They also buy into the whole package, from the dress code and the royal procession right through to the post-racing sing-song around the bandstand. There was some fun to be had for sure when a few racegoers were forced to invest in a pair of socks in order to get into the track, but most were happy to stick to the rules and, even on a sticky day like Saturday, see it as an essential part of the event. Good weather, of course, is a considerable boon when it comes to ensuring that everyone has a good time and makes sure to book a ticket to return next year. Royal Ascot is also an event with instant brand recognition and needs no introduction when it comes to marketing, and its close 220-year association with an unbroken line of 10 British monarchs also confers advantages that few, if any, other public events can ever hope to enjoy. But it is the track's ability to play a strong hand impeccably, and to innovate without anyone noticing the difference, that underpins its continuing success and popularity. Advertisement Ascot, for instance, was the first track to appreciate the huge potential of the Hong Kong-based World Pool betting operation, which offered punters in Asia a chance to bet on all 35 races this year. The association is now worth millions to the track over the five days, helping to support a £10m prize fund for Royal Ascot which is not quite on a par with some of the riches available elsewhere, but still more than enough to attract all the biggest global players when added attractions like the chance to rub shoulders with royalty are factored into the equation. Four of the week's five winners for the Emir of Qatar's burgeoning Wathnan Racing operation were big-money recruits with the Royal meeting in mind. It was the 2024 meeting in the case of Haatem, who added the Wolferton Stakes to his win in the Jersey last year, while French Master, Humidity and Lazzat all joined during a seven-figure spree in recent weeks. Along with Wathnan Racing, the familiar powerhouses of Coolmore, Godolphin and Juddmonte all made trips to the winner's enclosure during the week too, and almost unlimited wealth will always give the biggest racing and bloodstock operations an edge. But it is still not a cast-iron guarantee of success. The football agent Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing operation went on a similar splurge to Wathnan's in the run-up to the meeting, and also at the big yearling sales last autumn, but went home empty handed. Wolverhampton: 2.00 Sonic Pioneer 2.30 Antique Blue 3.00 Queue Dos 3.30 Lechuga Lad 4.03 Call Me Betty 4.35 Arboreous 5.05 Bold Suitor 5.35 Respiro Solitario. Advertisement Chepstow: 2.45 Amazing Journey 3.15 Endowed (nb) 3.45 Connie's Rose 4.20 Thurso (nap) 4.55 Lambournghini 5.25 We're Reunited. Windsor: 5.17 Equalised 5.52 Nebulon 6.25 Read All About It 6.58 Nogo's Dream 7.30 Orionis 8.00 Twilight Moon 8.30 Bownder 9.00 Commendation. In the Group One events so, too, did Aidan O'Brien, as Harry Eustace, Jim Goldie and Joseph Murphy, all registered their first wins at the highest level and took home half of the eight Group Ones between them. Lazzat was a first Royal winner for Jérôme Reynier in Saturday's feature, and while John and Thady Gosden picked up the other three Group Ones, Eve Johnson Houghton, Paddy Twomey and the leading jumps trainer Henry de Bromhead also had wins in the supporting events. Another face that is far more familiar from the winter code had two winners, and Willie Mullins's career total of a dozen Royal victories now puts him joint 10th with Wesley Ward among trainers with a current licence. It is one more reminder that the Royal meeting retains its essential ability to grow and evolve, yet all the while remain, superficially at least, as serenely unchanging as ever.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
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.' Advertisement Related: Parades, picnics and parasols: Royal Ascot 2025 – in pictures 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. Advertisement '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. Advertisement '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 Advertisement '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.' Advertisement 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.
