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Royal Ascot Talking Points: Record-Breaking O’Brien And Paddington Steal The Show

Day one done and dusted and it's hard to imagine that there will be a more impressive Group 1 winner than Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) at Royal Ascot this week.

The manner in which he swept aside the Guineas hero Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the St James's Palace S. was something to behold. So, too, has been the progression the colt has put in this season.

Paddington reappeared to win the prestigious Madrid Handicap at Naas off just 97 and shares something in common with fellow Aidan O'Brien-trained Group 1 winners Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Treasure Beach (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in that he cut his teeth in handicaps before recording top-notch successes.

It's fascinating to see how far Paddington has come in such a short space of time and it will be even more interesting to predict where he might end up this season.

He has given a strong indication that he will be even better over further and his pedigree would back that up being by Siyouni and out of a Montjeu (Ire) mare.

Connections must be thinking about stepping Paddington up to 10 furlongs in time, with races like the Coral-Eclipse and possibly even the Irish Champion S. the most obvious races for him if they lean that way.

His success on Tuesday carried added significance given O'Brien became the most successful trainer in Royal Ascot history after he crossed the winning line.

O'Brien's tally at the royal meeting now stands at 83 winners. He is just 53 years old. Like Paddington, there will be a lot more to come.

River Tiber An Important Winner

The Coventry has a tendency to throw up the odd forgettable winner every now and again. In fact, no winner of the race has gone on to land a Classic since the 2012 scorer Dawn Approach (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who remained unbeaten at two and landed the following year's 2,000 Guineas for Jim Bolger.

Few would bet against River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) charting a similar path and he could be the horse to bridge that Classic gap for the Coventry and something like the Dewhurst would look to be an obvious target for the colt this term.

“Different class,” is how Ryan Moore described the winner, and that is as good a summary as any for a horse who took over from long-time leader Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) deep inside the last furlong before putting almost two lengths between that rival and then holding the late flourish of the runner-up [Army Ethos (GB) (Shalaa {Ire})].

It was a performance of some substance, and one that earned River Tiber his position at the head of the betting for next year's 2,000 Guineas, for which he can be backed at odds of 10-1.

The win provided Aidan O'Brien with a record-extending 10th Coventry success, which makes the master of Ballydoyle the most successful trainer in the race's history, but an even bigger subplot to emerge from River Tiber winning was how Coolmore's investment in Wootton Bassett is beginning to pay off.

The Coventry was a big race for the stallion given Amo Racing's Bucanero Fuerte (GB) also ran a huge race to fill the placings back in third on just his second career start.

O'Brien touched on how excited he is about the progeny of the stallion, and rightly so, judging by the early accomplishments of Wootton Bassett at Coolmore.

Bradsell Pays Big Compliment To Bear

Speaking of the Coventry, last year's winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) ensured that the words forgettable will never apply to him when he clung on to land a dramatic edition of the G1 King's Stand S.

Much of the chat about Friday's Commonwealth Cup has revolved around Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never), who had Bradsell confined to the rear-view mirror at Haydock last month.

Between O'Brien's fantastic start to the royal meeting and Bradsell providing the form with a major boost, one should expect that Little Big Bear won't go off the colour of the 13-8 that is on offer right now.

Worth Forgiving Sub-Par Efforts

For a nation that supposedly doesn't have any good sprinters, Britain didn't do too badly by sending out the first 10 home in the King's Stand.

Indeed, there were genuine excuses for the Australian runners Coolangatta (Aus) (Written Tycoon {Aus}) and Cannonball (Aus) (Capitalist {Aus}) given the rain that fell beforehand would not have played to their strengths.

It should also be noted that Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), last year's Queen Mary winner and a well-backed 7-2 chance before the off, can be forgiven for failing to get involved after racing alone on the stand's side rail with Cannonball.

Melbourne Cup Could Be Calling For Vauban

Willie Mullins has been talking about the Melbourne Cup for Vauban (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) even before the gelding won the Triumph Hurdle last year.

Connections came desperately close to winning the race in 2015 with Max Dynamite (Fr) (Great Journey {Jpn}) and in Vauban, hugely impressive in landing the Copper Horse Handicap, they could well realise the dream.

Three Cheers For Brilliant Broodmare Reem Three

How good is Reem Three (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire})? A three-time winner and listed placed when in training with Luca Cumani, she now boasts three Royal Ascot winners as a broodmare after the success of the aptly-named Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Queen Anne S.

Reem Three had already supplied Wokingham winner Cape Byron and Britannia scorer Ostilio, not to mention Ajman Princess finishing second in the Ribblesdale. A tremendous record.

A Mare In Foal An Unstoppable Force? Henderson Thinks So

Ascot Stakes winner Ahorsewithnoname (GB) (Cacique {Ire}) will soon be off to the paddocks after connections of the Nicky Henderson-trained mare revealed that she was in foal to Cracksman (GB).

There are some who swear that mares running in foal improve their performance, but it's almost impossible to prove it makes that much of a difference if any at all.

One thing's for certain, Ahorsewithnoname's career-best performance was a timely one, and Henderson was left convinced that getting the mare covered in the spring played an integral part in the Royal Ascot success.

He explained, “It definitely changed her. She's just much sharper. She used to be much more relaxed at home but when she came back from [being covered in] Newmarket, it certainly woke her up a bit. It's been a tried and tested route but you can only do it once. You've got 90 days–so, as I say, you can only do it once.

“We're pretty sure it had an effect. Now, with some, it might have the opposite effect. They might go all dreamy and sleepy and mummy. There's no doubt [it worked].”

Of course, Ahorsewithnoname is not the only mare to have recorded successes at the royal meeting whilst in foal.

Credit to Kevin Blake on Sky Sports Racing for the knowledge, but Indian Queen (GB) (Electric I {GB}) was also in foal when storming to her Gold Cup win in 1991.

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‘The Best Thing on the Planet’: Who Are We To Disagree?

ASCOT, UK–Some of us get slower as we get older. Bradsell (GB) is getting faster. So much so that, instead of treading the more obvious three-year-old sprinter route to the Commonwealth Cup, trainer Archie Watson talked the colt's owner Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa into supplementing him for the King's Stand S., and what an inspired move that turned out to be.

It takes a good horse to win at Royal Ascot once, but a proper horse to return triumphant, dropped back in trip to the minimum and with a little to prove as his comeback from the injury that curtailed his juvenile season gathered momentum.

Watson will have dreaded the sound of stewards' klaxon not long after Bradsell passed the post in front after he drifted a little towards the runner-up and last season's crack sprinter Highfield Princess (Fr). The trainer had the 2021 Commonwealth Cup all but snatched from his clutches when Dragon Symbol (GB) bumped Campanelle (Ire) in running and was demoted to second. Tension was writ large on Watson's face as he awaited the outcome of a prolonged stewards' enquiry, already in the winner's circle but reluctant to say too much in interviews being conducted as if he had won. Just half an hour earlier, Watson, his stable jockey Hollie Doyle, and Shaikh Nasser had had to settle for second with Army Ethos (GB) in the Coventry, a great run in itself for the Shalaa (Ire) colt who had made just one previous winning start.

Finally able to relax when it was confirmed that Bradsell had given him his third Royal Ascot victory and, more importantly, a second Group 1, he said, “I know we're seen as a big yard, but for a yard like us to be winning a Group 1 here is the best thing on the planet. There was dread when that bing-bong happened, especially having just been chinned in the Coventry.”

When Watson spoke to TDN last week, he was effusive in his praise of bloodstock agent Tom Biggs, the youngest member of the Blandford Bloodstock team with whom he has formed a strong partnership. Biggs, who appears far too self-effacing for his chosen profession, was another one blowing his cheeks out with relief as the trainer went to collect his trophy.

“We don't have huge budgets, we work hard at the sales and these days don't come along very often. He's just a very fast horse,” he said.

Biggs and Watson bought Bradsell, who became the first Group 1 winner for his Shadwell sire Tasleet (GB), from last year's Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale from Mark Grant for £47,000. He then changed hands privately following his nine-length debut success to make his first start in the Victorious Racing colours in the Coventry S. One run later a mid-race stumble in the Phoenix S. and subsequent leg fracture put paid to the rest of his juvenile campaign.

“It was quite a nasty injury but his temperament is so fantastic,” Biggs added. “When he breezed I loved his action and the way he got his head down and he got better the further he went. He's just a great horse to be involved with.”

Bradsell was bred by Deborah O'Brien, who has moved up two generations in the sire-line for this year's mating for his dam Russian Punch (GB) (Archipenko). The mare is now in foal to Oasis Dream (GB).

Bradsell's successor in the Coventry roll of honour, River Tiber (Ire), was a member of the final French crop of Wootton Bassett (GB) conceived at €40,000 before he joined the Coolmore ranks. It is hard to imagine that there are not bigger and better things to come from this stallion given the line-up of mares he has covered since moving to Coolmore, where his fee has jumped to €100,000 then €150,000. As an extra vote of confidence in Wootton Bassett, MV Magnier and Peter Brant paid 480,000gns last year for the subsequent Coventry winner at Tattersalls October Book 1. His breeder Ger Morrin of Pier House Stud would have been celebrating then, but this is where it's really at, and Morrin was all smiles as he accepted congratulations from the Coolmore camp and many others alongside the winner's circle.

“Fabulous,” he said. “He was always a fabulous-looking horse. He nearly died as a foal and thankfully we were able to save him. These are great people and he was good-looking yearling so they came and bought him.”

Morrin added that River Tiber's dam Transcendence (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}) is now back in foal to Wootton Bassett.

The Tabor colours carried by River Tiber were soon back in action aboard Paddington (GB), who made it a memorable day for the group of Coolmore owners by handing out a comprehensive defeat to Juddmonte's Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the battle of the Guineas winners in the St James's Palace S. Relatively rarely for these two superpowers of the breeding world, neither colt is a homebred.

For Aidan O'Brien, Paddington's victory was particularly significant as it took him past Sir Michael Stoute as the most successful trainer at Royal Ascot with 83 wins to his credit, nine of which have come in the St James's Palace S.

While Ryan Moore, with three winners on the day, stole the limelight from the retiring (eventually) Frankie Dettori, the leading owner-breeder honours unquestionably went to Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum. His Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) got the meeting off to a great start with victory in the Queen Anne S. for Kevin Ryan and Neil Callan, and a double was completed in the Wolferton with the Roger Varian-trained Royal Champion (Ire) (Shamardal).

The importance of a royal champion to British horseracing cannot be understated and it can only be hoped that the sport now has two. We have grown accustomed over many decades to the welcome message in the front of the racecard being in the name of 'Elizabeth R'. This year, for the first time, a joint message was signed 'Charles R' and 'Camilla R'.

Significantly, the new King and Queen led the royal procession for the first day of the meeting and will do so throughout. Joining them in the carriages, perhaps symbolically, was Ralph Beckett, their first trainer back in 2008 of a homebred filly bred in the January after they married. Fittingly, she was a daughter of King's Best, named Royal Superlative (GB). The colours of the royal couple have changed now to those distinguished purple and red silks made famous in the modern era by the runners of Queen Elizabeth II.

This year's royal welcome message was concluded by acknowledging the owners, breeders and trainers who make this meeting possible. The King and Queen said, “It is a huge and rare achievement to have a runner at Royal Ascot and we very much hope that you all enjoy the experience.”

Judging by the scenes of revelry around the bandstand and in the car parks post-racing, a good day was had by many. One down, four to go.

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Royal Ascot: Prepare For Battle Royal In The Prince Of Wales’s

Arguably the week's most momentous race, Wednesday's G1 Prince of Wales's S. is as tight as it gets between a trio of hardcore middle-distance soldiers from all the right establishments. From Moulton Paddocks' 2021 Derby winner Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) to Freemason Lodge's Champion S. winner Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) to Ballydoyle's Irish Champion hero Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), this renewal could come down to small margins and tactical decisions, much as it did last year. Not yet a Group 1 winner, but so obviously an imminent one, the William Haggas-trained My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) is right in there too and should he take this back to Somerville Lodge there will be no hint of surprise anywhere.

Perhaps this Prince of Wales's will be more about these horses' weaknesses than their strengths, with any cracks sure to be exposed by the other three in what promises to be a showcase for the sport's competitive elite. Aidan O'Brien and his collective have had to endure as much disappointment as joy with Luxembourg so far, with physical ailments taking him out of last year's Derby picture and leading to his no-show in the Arc. With the master of Ballydoyle, the real story is usually read between the lines of his comments, particularly post-race, and significantly this colt was described as “not for kids” by him following his courageous all-the-way Tattersalls Gold Cup triumph last time. That brought up his stable's 400th top-level winner since it started in motion in June 1993 and you get the sense that this is the latest in a line of those to emanate from Rosegreen with a disposition of granite.

Adayar, who provided Frankel with his first Derby winner before bringing the King George back into the Classic-crop conversation here two years ago, has had his own spell in the wilderness only to bounce back from adversity. So close to winning the Champion here in October, this mighty thoroughbred has enjoyed a far smoother preparation in 2023 and will carry the aspirations of all those Derby worshippers out there.

Bay Bridge, who can be seen as at least a moral dead-heater of this 12 months ago once study of the sectionals is carried out, probably needs more rain for this race to breach a tipping point away from the others. That said, even on a sound surface this is a valid member of a list of rarities cultivated down the decades by racing's ace horticulturalist Sir Michael Stoute. Despite losing Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) out of the picture, the trainer's assistant trainer James Savage is under no illusions as to what is required on Wednesday afternoon. “The mile-and-a-quarter division is as strong as I have seen,” he stated.

Wednesday opens customarily with the G2 Queen Mary S., where the Karl Burke stable responsible for last year's tour de force Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) is the most feared once again by bookies and opponents alike thanks to the Nottingham effort of Beautiful Diamond (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}). “I'm hoping she will be there in a ding-dong,” commented Bruce Raymond, racing manager for her owner Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum. “The timing of the race is tight from her run at Nottingham, but really that's an after-the-race excuse.” One of Royal Ascot's top sires Dark Angel supplies the yard's other key hope, the Listed Marygate Fillies' S. winner Got To Love A Grey (GB), as well as the Richard Fahey-trained Hilary Needler Trophy scorer Midnight Affair (Ire) as England's re-emerging North maintains its high standards.

This is no ordinary Queen Mary, with added spice provided by a big US presence not just about Wesley Ward but also George Weaver and Thomas Morley. The good news for all is that we get to see Johnny Velazquez, Joel Rosario and Javier Castellano and possibly Irad Ortiz, Jr. too if he gets over the ill-timed bout of food poisoning that ruled him out of Tuesday's action. Flying the TDN Rising Star standard is Laurence Holder's Yarmouth winner Born To Rock (Ire) (Soldier's Call {GB}).

In the G2 Duke of Cambridge S., Frankie renews his partnership with Andrew Rosen and Marc Chan's G3 Princess Elizabeth S. winner Prosperous Voyage (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), despite the Gosdens saddling last year's G1 Sun Chariot S. third Grande Dame (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). Is that a clue? Chan's racing manager Jamie McCalmont said of Prosperous Voyage, who upset Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Falmouth S. last July. “It's a bit different competition to Epsom here, but she didn't have a hard race there and that should set her up for a good performance.” Grande Dame gives Doreen Tabor a strong hand, with the G3 Valiant S. scorer Jumbly (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}) sporting the first colours from Owning Hill having cost 1.25million gns at Tatts December.

Frankie's unbeaten Listed Cocked Hat S.-winning mount Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) is a big deal for Wathnan Racing in the G2 Queen's Vase, where the Royal colours are carried by the Stoute runner Circle Of Fire (GB) (Almanzor {Fr}). This race also marks a landmark moment for the Crisfords as they saddle their first runner for Godolphin after the operation acquired the well-touted Chesspiece (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}).

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Guineas Heroine Mawj Withdrawn From Coronation With Cough

Godolphin homebred Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), who won the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in May, has been withdrawn from Friday's G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot due to a cough, trainer Saeed bin Suroor announced.

Successful in the G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. and third in the G1 Cheveley Park S. at two, the daughter of Modern Ideals (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) has won all three of her 3-year-old starts. The 'TDN Rising Star' appeared twice at Meydan in conditions races and won the Jumeirah Fillies Classic over seven furlongs and the Jumeirah Fillies Guineas going a mile this winter.

“Mawj appeared quiet after exercising this morning and produced a dirty scope,” said bin Suroor. “She is coughing at moment, so won't be able to run in the Coronation S.

“It's disappointing to miss Royal Ascot, but we will give her time to recover and we can hopefully look forward to the rest of the season.”

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