Lazzat wins Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, Storm Boy fails

Daily Telegraph

5 hours ago

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Former Australian boom colt Storm Boy again disappointed as Golden Eagle runner-up Lazzat shined bright to prevail in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Lazzat highlighted his incredible tenacity to lead throughout, leaving his trainer Jerome Reynier dreaming of a clash with the world's best sprinter Ka Ying Rising after his star held off Japanese gun Satono Reve.
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The bulk of Australian eyes were on Coolmore-owned Storm Boy, which could only manage 10th under the urging of champion rider Ryan Moore.
The racing future of the expensive colt is now clouded in uncertainty with the former Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained galloper failing to flatter in two northern hemisphere starts.
Now trained by Aidan O'Brien, Storm Boy didn't beat a runner home when last of nine in the Greenlands Stakes at The Curragh last month and was similarly disappointing in his Royal Ascot debut.
All honours, however, went to Lazzat, which put on a show during and after the race when the French gelding tossed rider James Doyle and went on a lap of honour around the famed English circuit.
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Reynier confirmed his desire to take on the world's best sprinter and current The Everest favourite Ka Ying Rising over the next two months but a clash in Australia's richest sprint seems unlikely.
'I'd love to take on Ka Ying Rising,' Reynier told Racing Post.
'Maybe at the end of the year we can face him in his own town in the Hong Kong Sprint.
'The July Cup is coming soon, so we'll bring him back home and probably wait to defend his crown in the Prix Maurice de Gheest.
'Then there's the Sprint Cup and then the Champion Sprint back here (in October).'
Lazzat's Ascot victory adds to the remarkable depth of form from this year's Golden Eagle (1500m), which has now produced eight subsequent individual Group 1 winners.
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Placegetter Tom Kitten (All Star Mile) as well as Stefi Magnetica (Doncaster Mile), Port Lockroy (Railway Stakes), Joliestar (Newmarket Handicap, Kingsford Smith Cup), War Machine (Stradbroke Handicap), Skybird (Black Caviar Lightning) and Ascoli Piceno (Victoria Mile) have all since won majors.
Reynier intends to train Lazzat as a pure sprinter from now on.
'We knew we had a really good horse and he obviously had to prove it at the highest level,' Reynier said.
'He did it as a three-year-old but after going to Australia and Hong Kong, I was a bit scared it was going to be tough to find Lazzat the same as he was.
'But obviously we have been trying him over a mile to open his options but he is a pure sprinter and he will stick to sprinting distances and straight courses for his future.'
Originally published as 2024 Golden Eagle runner-up Lazzat wins 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot as Storm Boy falters