Field of Gold sparkles on opening day of Royal Ascot

France 24

10 hours ago

Colin Keane made light of the pressure of being recently appointed first jockey for the Saudi owners Juddmonte as he surged clear halfway down the straight on the favourite in front of packed stands on a baking hot day.
Keane's predecessor Kieran Shoemark had lost the job after what was judged, by the father and son training duo John and Thady Gosden, to be a poor ride in finishing second behind Ruling Court in the English 2000 Guineas in May.
This time round Keane made no mistake and had four lengths to spare over French 2000 Guineas winner Henri Matisse with another four lengths back to Ruling Court.
"Good horses make it easy," said Keane.
"I do not know when three Guineas winners last clashed in this but my word he was good."
His impressive performance came a few hours after the day's traditional opening Royal Procession, celebrating its 200th anniversary, with King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the lead carriage.
One of those in the carriages, the Duke of Wellington, was a nod to the first one as his ancestor Napoleon Bonaparte's nemesis accompanied George IV in 1825.
The opener of the five-day meeting set the stage brilliantly with a thriller of a finish.
Australian jockey Mark Zahra on Docklands just got the nod over favourite Rosallion in the Group One Queen Anne Stakes.
Zahra showed typical Australian bravura at having dropped his whip in the finishing stages on Docklands, who was second in the same race last year.
"Having read up on the whip rules here I thought I better throw it away!" quipped the two-time Melbourne Cup-winning jockey.
"What an amazing feeling to ride a winner at Royal Ascot, unbelievable," he added as he punched the air regularly on the way back to the winners enclosure.
Zahra said Royal Ascot had originally been a sideshow to his European trip.
"This just started as a stop-off on the way to a trip to Ibiza, so to turn into a massive win like this is very special," he said.
'Older and a bit wiser'
For trainer Harry Eustace it was his third Royal Ascot winner -- Docklands's second as he won the Britannia Handicap two years ago.
"It is pretty sweet," said Eustace.
"I am very appreciative to my team who work so hard and is why I am standing where I am today.
"Also to the owners, who turned down a huge offer after he won the Britannia."
Unfortunately Zahra's fellow Australian, equine star Asfoora, flattered to deceive in her defence of the Group One King Charles III Stakes.
She finished in a dead heat for fifth -- victory going to veteran Scottish trainer Jim Goldie with American Affair.
For jockey Paul Mulrennan it ended a 15-year drought at the meeting, his hair having turned grey in that period.
"This win is extra special, I am a bit older and a bit wiser," said Mulrennan, who enjoyed a good laugh with King Charles III at the presentation.
For Goldie it was his biggest win since he first began training, close to Glasgow, in 1994.
"I've trained the family for two generations so it's very sweet," said Goldie.
"It's great, it means a lot," he added after a fair amount of prompting.
Gstaad gave Aidan O'Brien his 11th win in the Group Two Coventry Stakes -- the race which got him off the mark in the meeting way back in 1997 when Harbour Master won -- triumphing in impressive style.
O'Brien sucked in his cheeks before he broke into a broad smile as Gstaad would be considered his second best two-year-old behind Albert Einstein, who has had to miss the meeting.
"That was quite a performance, absolutely delighted," said O'Brien.