King Charles III's hopes for Reaching High may have been dashed, writes DOMINIC KING - but the first day of Royal Ascot belonged to full-throttle Field of Gold
They came for an 'I was there moment' and their wish was granted. Though the horse wasn't carrying the colours they anticipated, nobody was complaining.
Feverish excitement had built ahead of Royal Ascot 's first day about the potential of the King and Queen greeting a winner but luck was not on the Monarchs' side: Reaching High, hot favourite for the Ascot Stakes, got stuck in worse traffic than a Friday on the M25, and finished unplaced behind 20-1 shot Ascending.
With all respect to Reaching High's connections, however, even if the gelding had won, he wouldn't have been able to outstrip the superlative performance from Field Of Gold in the St James's Palace Stakes, who did exactly what the best should do in this historic corner of Berkshire.
A crowd of 45,551, up from last year's day one attendance of 43,791, were left gasping when Colin Keane shook his reins with two furlongs of the one-mile contest to run. The galloping grey, sent-off the 8-11 favourite, took off like a motorcycle might if its rider twists the throttle too tightly. 'Yeah, it was something like that!' Keane said with a broad smile when the analogy was made.
'When you ask him to quicken, it's pretty instant. Without a doubt he's as good as I have ridden. He is a level above everything. It's hard to describe, really. He just feels like a very good horse. He did something similar at the Curragh, when we won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, just maybe not in such a strong field.
'This was a proper renewal of the race. When he quickened up, I thought it would take a good one to get to him.'
Keane is a modest, understated man but he's the perfect match for Juddmonte, the breeding operation whose green and pink silks symbolise class. Field Of Gold's father, Kingman, was a blistering winner of the St James's Palace Stakes in 2014 but this felt even more electrifying.
'That was wonderful,' said John Gosden, who trained both horses. 'I suppose in a sense he surpasses his Dad, who was fantastic. He could turn it on but then think he had done enough and go to sleep. He was pretty amazing when he won this race but that really was something to behold.'
Gosden, who would later saddle a second winner on the card with French Master, isn't a man for giving a cheap headline, so those words should resonate a little louder; Henri Matisse and Ruling Court, winners of the French and English 2,000 Guineas, were beaten legless.
His Highness Prince Saud bin Khalid of Juddmonte said: 'We are very fortunate to have a horse of this calibre - not only winning but the style by which he won was very impressive, wasn't it? Being a son of Kingman makes it even more of a value to all of us. It is (my late father) Prince Khalid's legacy.'
There will be more days like this for Keane in future but the thing that so appeals about Ascot is the fact the happiness can be shared around - from Docklands, who sprang a surprise in the opening Queen Anne to American Affair in the King Charles III Stakes.
What a result the latter was for veteran trainer Jim Goldie, who was winning at the Royal meeting for the first time. American Affair benefitted from a sublime ride from Paul Mulrennan, the best jockey riding in the north of England who was complimented by the King for his superb horsemanship.
'The last time I had a Royal Ascot winner (Dandino in 2010), I had jet black hair!' Mulrennan said. 'Jim has been very good to me the last few years. He is a master trainer. He can get inside a horse's head. This is just an amazing sport.'
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Horses older than five tend to struggle. That leaves us with 30 runners cut down to just Bullet Point, Silawi, Urban Lion and Fox Legacy who range from 10-1 to 28-1 so you could back all four. Well-backed My Cloud looks a danger along with The Liffey under Ryan Moore. Arabian Light and Bullet Point look big each-way prices. Royal Hunt Cup runner-by-runner guide I run through every runner in the handicap cracker, rating them out of five stars. One is the worst - five the best. ARABIAN LIGHT 4 LIGHT fantastic. Strong Newmarket third after good runs in Dubai. Improver who stays. Well drawn and solid each-way. HI ROYAL 2 HI low. Gr1-placed last year and second in good race latest. Stays but high in weights. WAHDAN 1 DESPERATE Dan. Fancy French form as a youngster but been poor for a while. Big weight. JEFF KOONS 2 UNBELIEVABLE Jeff. Well held in Goodwood Listed last time. Best over further, needs more to figure in this company. QIRAT 5 RAT fan. Likes it here and just pipped in the Victoria Cup over 7f last time. Will stay, handles any ground and on fair mark. Huge player under Colin Keane. ANCIENT ROME 2 ROME alone. Group placed at best but not firing this season. Needs a revival. SOLDIER'S EMPIRE 1 EMPIRE falling. Bits of form in Dubai but best over further. Up against it. EPICTETUS 2 NEEDS an Epic. 2023 Group winner, fair comeback after a year off at Newbury. Place hope but still high in weights. GALERON 3 RON the money. Lincoln fifth on return but modest latest. Trip suits and while he's unreliable but could nick a place if bringing his best form. SEAN 2 SEAN bean. Three poor UK runs after fair efforts in Dubai. Weight looks too big. BLUE BROTHER 1 TOO Blue. French raider ran OK in Saudi latest over further but 13lb above last win. TONY MONTANA 3 TONY Tiger. Narrow seconds at York and Goodwood this season over 1m2f. Drop in trip could help along with blinkers. Solid each-way. LA TRINIDAD 3 LA law. Ran well last two over this trip and handicap mark looks fair and enjoys a strong pace. Could place at long odds. THE LIFFEY 4 DEEP Liffey. Unexposed and solid Listed run last time at Naas. Should relish the step up to a mile and has more to come with Moore up. Player. POPMASTER 3 POP has bottle. Good fourth in Victoria Cup here over 7f from a poor position and track suits. On a long losing run but not out of place battle. EBT'S GUARD 2 ON Guard. Solid Epsom run last time and likes this trip. 5lb above last win so needs more. MAGNUM OPUS 2 BAG Mag. Good fourth in Lincoln latest so trip and big field suit. Needs another step forward. TALIS EVOLVERE 2 TALL Tal. Only 2lb above last win but best on the sand and Windsor run was modest. Needs a lot more to figure. BULLET POINT 4 ON Point. Won very nicely on comeback at HQ. Unexposed at 1m and ground suits. Leading chance from rails draw. SILAWI 2 HERE Wi go. Made all at Windsor in a small field last time but faces a far tougher task here. URBAN LION 3 LION roars. Has 5lb penalty for last week's stylish Sandown win. Trip suits and could nick a place upped in class with more improvement to come. BOPEDRO 2 NO Bo. Veteran on long losing run. Trip fine and weight's fair but asking a lot to win. FOX LEGACY 4 FANTASTIC Fox. Bolted up at Newmarket on stable debut and shorter trip should be fine. 6lb rise gives him a chance under Oisin Murphy. WHITCOMBE ROCKSTAR 2 ROCK off. Six-time 2024 winner over this trip but at lower level. Best on sand and up weights. GREEK ORDER 3 GREEK to me. Interesting on UK return after fair spell in US. Nice draw and well backed. TOIMY SON 3 SON up. Has run well in big fields but not this year. Trip and track suit and could nick a place. MY CLOUD 4 CLOUD may reign. Unbeaten this season and impressed here in April when winning easily. Trip ideal on firm and has more to come. Short odds but big chance from good draw. SISYPHEAN 3 HE's no Sisy. Close second in hot York handicap over this trip on return. Unexposed. Player if repeating that from fair 2lb higher in the weights. TOKENOMICS 3 LOVE Token. Won well over 7f at Cork last time and likes to come off a strong pace. Each-way say with longer trip no issue. WHIP CRACKER 2 WHIP out. Patchy form at lower levels. Went well at Sandown but this is much tougher. 5.35 AROLLA can rock his rivals to give trainer Harry Charlton a first Royal Ascot win in his own name. This improving daughter of Kingman made a cracking return when second to the smart Jabaara in a Musselburgh Listed race earlier this month and now drops into handicap company off a perfectly fair mark of 100. My fancy stayed on eye-catchingly from off the pace. With the strong gallop expected to suit her hold-up style, she can pounce late under top Irish jockey Colin Keane. There's every chance of a Royal winner thanks to Rainbows Edge who could well be the proverbial Group horse lurking in a handicap. He has earned top weight after an impressive victory over course and distance last time. That was just his fourth run so there should be a lot more to come from William Buick's mount. He got the better of Arisaig but there was less than a length between them so Charlie Johnston's hope isn't out of this and is slightly better off at the weights. Kayhana is a strong traveller for Gavin Cromwell and she returned to form with a close second at Gowran last time. She'll need luck from stall seven but should come home strongly. Rockymountainway is on the upgrade and shaped as though the step back up to a mile will suit when a strong second at Kempton. At huge odds, Thelma's Angel caught the eye when sixth in a Musselburgh listed contest and could outrun her price now dropping back into a handicap. 6.10 OLD IS GOLD can shine under James Doyle. He was a good third on debut here before winning nicely at Beverley last time. Wathnan shelled out £200,000 to buy him after that and he can repay a big chunk of that here. Rogue Legend looks dangerous after back-to-back wins in Ireland and he's another to have changed hands for big money since. There was plenty of juice in the ground at Tipperary last time which he won't get here though. Kansas went down fighting at Navan last time but has had three goes to get off the mark. Rogue Supremacy lagged in on debut at Wetherby and is proven on quick ground. He could be anything for David O'Meara. Tough Critic flew home to win in America last time and is another for the shortlist on ideal ground. Templegate's tips FREE BETS - GET THE BEST SIGN UP DEALS AND RACING OFFERS Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. 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