The third afternoon of racing at Royal Ascot was delivered over a rain-sodden course officially listed as soft, but that didn't stop Stradivarius from delivering a third straight victory in the Group 1 Gold Cup. Trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, Stradivarius recorded his fourth career win at the Royal meeting, having won the Queen's Vase in 2017.
Mid-pack for most of the 2 1/2-mile journey, Dettori swung the 6-year-old by Sea the Stars four-wide coming into the final stretch. Under a confident ride, Stradivarius responded immediately to Dettori's urging in the final furlong and pulled away to win by about 10 lengths.
In the first race of the day, Highland Chief won the 10-furlong Golden Gates Handicap to give jockey Rossa Ryan a first Royal winner. It was also a first Royal Ascot success for a training partnership, permitted by the BHA since the resumption of racing on June 1, with Paul and Oliver Cole being responsible for handling Highland Chief. Paul Cole trained 21 Royal Ascot winners when solely responsible for the training licence.
Referring to the fact that he now shares the licence with his father Paul, Oliver said: “As the expression goes, if it's not broken, why try to fix it? We have got some good horses and we are very lucky to have them.
“Sadly, my father is at his best friend's funeral today [Ben Leigh], which is why he didn't come. I did say to him today I thought we'd get an Ascot winner.”
Jockey James Doyle bagged his third winner of the week as he superbly delivered the Roger Varian-trained Mountain Angel up the inside to comfortably take the day's second race, the Listed Wolferton Stakes over 10 furlongs.
Regarding the week as he has had so far, Doyle said: “You have to enjoy it. It is obviously a bit, well a lot, different from what we are used to here. I was watching the replays back last night and it all seemed a bit quiet. It is nice to ride a winner to try and liven things up a little bit! I am not Frankie, unfortunately, but it is nice to be standing here!”
Jockey Jim Crowley is enjoying a Royal Ascot to remember, and he recorded his fifth winner of the week when Molatham landed the G3 Jersey Stakes over seven furlongs by half a length from Monarch Of Egypt after a sustained battle. It was a double for trainer Roger Varian, and like all of Crowley's four previous winners this week, Molatham is owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum, to whom Crowley is retained jockey.
“I had six winners at Royal Ascot coming into this,” said Crowley. “I am not complaining though. When you are a jockey, you take one for the meeting, so to get five is great. I am very lucky to ride such nice horses and for such a big operation.”
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