Latest news with #TimeForSandals
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Harry Eustace expresses unbridled joy after winning at Royal Ascot as a rookie trainer - saying 'I promise you we will celebrate'
Harry Eustace wanted to get his words out but all he could manage was a nod of the head in agreement. Had this really happened again? The answer, most definitely, was yes. Time For Sandals, his little three-year-old filly, had just completed the second part of week that, in all likelihood, has just transformed his career. Winning a Group One at Royal Ascot, for a rookie trainer, could be dismissed as luck but to do it twice in the space of four days indicates serious talent. Eustace had started the meeting that matters above all with a bang, when Docklands won the Queen Anne Stakes, but things got even better for the 37-year-old, who only started training in 2021; Time For Sandals might have been a 25/1 shot but she hit the line as powerfully as an odds-on favourite. There was heartbreak for connections of 28/1 runner-up Arizona Blaze, who wondered what might have happened had they been drawn on the far side of the track with Time For Sandals, but none of that diluted the wonderment which consumed Eustace. He's certainly bred for this job. His father, James, was an institution in Newmarket and won the 1998 Royal Hunt Cup here; his uncle, David Oughton, landed the Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2005, when Ascot was staged at York, from Hong Kong, where Harry's younger brother, David, now trains. Having the genes is one thing, being able to performer is another. Eustace dropped out of Edinburgh University, where he was studying chemistry, to pursue his dream of training good horses and the last four days, unequivocally, have shown that was the right call. 'People are waiting for you to prove you can do it – and we have done it twice this week,' said Eustace, whose other runners at Ascot this week finished second and fifth. 'This is the big marquee meeting of the entire year. To win here is the greatest stage and it's enormous for us. 'I won't take any of it for granted. I have been very lucky growing up with Dad. But it's tough. This is a sport and an industry in which it is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to keep going. 'I promise you we will celebrate it because you never know if it's going to be a little while between drinks!' This, in essence, is what it is all about: joy. Everywhere you looked, you could see what everyone is in this for: from Richard Kingscote, who partnered Time For Sandals, to Kieran Shoemark, who emerged from a period of turbulence to take the Sandringham Stakes on 22/1 shot Never Let Go. 'It has been a tough six weeks,' said Shoemark, who lost his job as one of John and Thady Gosden's main riders after losing on Field Of Gold in the 2000 Guineas. 'I had an opportunity that put me on the map and it is my job to remain there now.' Staying on the map is something that Willie Mullins will never have to worry about but even this winning machine looked like he was savouring Ascot success for the first time (it was actually his eleventh win) when Ethical Diamond blitzed the field in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes. Then, of course, there was Joseph Murphy, who sent out the 33/1 winner of the Coronation Stakes. He and jockey Gary Carroll are pillars of this sport in Ireland, the kind of men who keep the wheels turning on a daily basis but rarely get the credit they deserve. 'It's a lifetime's ambition to have a Group One winner,' said Murphy, who is now 70. 'This is 50 years of work – that's what it is. It's love and care, and all for the owners we have, all our people. It's just a whole group of people together. This is heaven on earth.'
RTÉ News
15 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Royal Ascot wrap: Ethical Diamond sparkles for Willie Mullins in Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
Ethical Diamond made it a momentous day at Royal Ascot for Willie Mullins when powering down the outside to win the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes in the hands of Ryan Moore. Mullins and his wife Jackie had taken part in the royal procession before racing and his dual-purpose performer had no trouble in justifying 3-1 favouritism. Fourth last year, he was 2lb higher having also finished fourth in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham - but the result barely looked in doubt and he came home two lengths clear of Mutaawid and Naqeeb Harry Eustace's fine Royal Ascot continued when Time For Sandals blazed her way to Commonwealth Cup glory. The Newmarket handler struck for the very first time in Group One company with Docklands in the Queen Anne Stakes and wasted little time doubling that tally with a filly who was registering just her second career victory - and first since her debut last year. Sent off at 25-1 in the hands of Richard Kingscote, she cruised to the front on the far side with a furlong to run and showed great resolve to edge out Arizona Blaze by a neck with the supplemented Rayevka half a length further back in third. Venetian Sun backed up Karl Burke's confidence in her ability with a dominant display in the Albany Stakes. Ante-post favourite in the build up to the race following an impressive winning debut at Carlisle, she was sent off at 7-1 in the end with Burke having drawn a blank with several other fancied juvenile runners this week. She also had to overcome what looked a disadvantageous draw in stall one under Clifford Lee, yet despite having no cover, she was in front with a furlong to run and pulled a length and a half clear of Awaken and Balantina.
Powys County Times
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Time For Sandals pulls off Commonwealth Cup shock
Harry Eustace's fine Royal Ascot continued when Time For Sandals blazed her way to Commonwealth Cup glory. The Newmarket handler struck for the very first time in Group One company with Docklands in the Queen Anne Stakes and wasted little time doubling that tally with a filly who was registering just her second career victory – and first since her debut last year. Sent off at 25-1 in the hands of Richard Kingscote, she cruised to the front on the far side with a furlong to run and showed great resolve to edge out Arizona Blaze by a neck with the supplemented Rayevka half a length further back in third. 'It's the first time she's had a fast horse to follow, I don't want to say (we were) very confident, but we felt like we hadn't seen the best from her for one reason or another,' said Eustace. 'The voice is in dire straits, I can assure you of that! She's always shaped to be pretty good and at home we felt we had excuses for her; she never ran a bad one, she was always right there but hadn't quite put it all together. 'We were always confident in a race like this where there would be fast horses taking her along, that's really what she needed; don't get me wrong, we didn't dream that we'd get here, but she was always pretty good.' He added: 'It's been extraordinary (the meeting), but that's the team at home, it's all the little things all the way through and I can't thank them enough. The owners will be in there, they're relatively new, this is the second ever horse they've had and they're pretty lucky people.' Kingscote – who won the Derby for Sir Michael Stoute on Desert Crown in 2022 – said: 'I've had nice horses to ride since Sir Michael retired, it was always going to be a year of building back up, I had a nice bit of support and I'm delighted to get on a filly like her. 'Last year she was a very unlucky placed horse in the Super Sprint and she progressed all the way through. She was unlucky last time I felt. 'She did a spectacular piece of work a couple of weeks ago at Newmarket and I'm delighted to ride Harry a big winner because he's a gentleman and his yard is such a happy yard. 'I'm delighted, he's a lovely man and his staff are always so positive and happy so it's great to get them a nice winner. He's only just trained his 100th winner, so I'd say two Group Ones at Royal Ascot is pretty special to him.' Arizona Blaze may have been 28-1, but did not surprise trainer Adrian Murray with his huge performance, with the Irish handler now eyeing a tilt at York's Nunthorpe Stakes later in the summer. 'Big run, but he never runs a bad race. He always turns up on the day so I'm delighted with him,' said Murray. 'He's very reliable. When he came home the last day he was a bit flat within himself, so he probably was a bit under the weather when he ran, we put that behind us and we were very confident of a good run. 'It was a huge price, I couldn't believe it! 'I think we'll go for the Nunthorpe, he's in the July Cup as well but I think we'll look at York.'
