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‘This Ranks Right Up There’: George Weaver-Trained Crimson Advocate Triumphs At Royal Ascot

Crimson Advocate (9/1) became the fifth US-trained filly to win the G2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot after clinging on by the narrowest of margins in a thrilling finish.

The George Weaver-trained juvenile showed blistering speed and established a clear lead on the stands' side entering the final furlong. However, her stride started to shorten and she was joined close home by the fast-finishing Relief Rally.

Crimson Advocate had her head in front on the line to give her trainer a first Royal Ascot success, while it was a fourth victory at the meeting for Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez.

Relief Rally was devouring the ground late on under Tom Marquand and was in front a yard after the line but the head bob went against her. Beautiful Diamond, sent off the 11/4 favourite, kept on well to finish two lengths off the front pair in third.

Weaver said: “I have so much respect for the horses over here. It always seems like the European horses are better grass horses than what we have, but I knew our filly was very talented and I was hoping that she would be able to get the job done. Don't get me wrong, the way she won at Gulfstream, I was very excited about her, but like I said, I have tremendous respect for the trainers and horses that are over here.

“I came here eight years ago with a horse [Cyclogenesis] that wasn't good enough. I thought it would be great if I could ever come back with something that was, and we did. When you try to plan things, you try to buy horses for Ascot, it never works out. Things just come together, and this year we've got two nice horses to bring over here.

“Royal Ascot is Royal Ascot, what can you say? You can feel the electricity when you're here and how special it is, and it's a beautiful feather for us to have in our cap. It's not the biggest purse I've ever won – Vekoma was a tremendous racehorse and I won the Dubai Golden Shaheen early on in 2005 [with Saratoga County]. I've had some great moments, but this ranks right up there.”

Velazquez said: “That was close, but I'm glad Crimson Advocate held on. We knew she was going to be really fast coming out; we tried to get her on the best path for the firmer ground. From yesterday to today, the turf is a little bit firmer, so it's better for our horses and she showed up today.

“I rode two races yesterday and the ground was a little soft for our horses – Wesley Ward's horses break fast and they had a hard time to keep the pace. Today is a little drier and our horses handle it better.

“I saw her run in Florida when she won, and I was like, I want to ride that horse at Royal Ascot! I actually texted the trainer right away saying I wanted to ride her.

“In the race she was going so well, but I probably made a little premature move thinking I would get away from them and then hold on. In hindsight, I almost messed up the race and should have waited. She handled it better than I did!

“It's great to be here and to have another winner, and it's great for George. His wife had a very bad accident a year and a half ago and they didn't think she would walk again, so for her to be here is a miracle.

“It is a dream come true coming here and I try to come whenever I can. It is a special place and it's great to come here and have winners.”

Relief Rally's trainer William Haggas said: “We were in front before, and after the line, but not on. There you go, that's the way it is, she's run a great race and made up a lot of ground in the last furlong.”

Marquand added: “I thought we were going to get there. Relief Rally landed there one stride before the line, and one stride after the line.”

Karl Burke, trainer of Beautiful Diamond, Got To Love A Grey (5th), and Lady Pink Rose (7th), said: “All three of them ran great races. They are three lovely fillies to go forward with. Beautiful Diamond had her prep for the breeze-up all winter, she came to us, we ran her only two weeks ago. She comes to a meeting like this – Royal Ascot – and has run a huge race. But she is a weak filly and has had a hard race today. We will back off her for a month now and hopefully we can get her ready for the Lowther or something like that.

“Got To Love A Grey from what I saw ran a real honest race again. She wears her heart on her sleeve and I'm not sure where we will go with her yet. She probably just lacks that bit of class of the others, but maybe a step up to six will help her improve a little bit.

“Sheikh Juma's filly, Lady Pink Rose, is a speedy filly and ran a great race to be second on the far side – Tom [Eaves] thought if he had been on this side, he would have been in the mix, but he would probably have been third or fourth.”

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‘We Haven’t Had Any Hiccups’: Derby Runner-Up Two Phil’s Leads Eight-Horse Field In Ohio Derby

Trainer Larry Rivelli has confidence in his Kentucky Derby runner-up Two Phil's ahead of this Saturday's Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown Racino, reports bloodhorse.com. The 3-year-old son of Hard Spun drew post four in the field of eight runners entered for the 1 1/8-mile contest.

“We haven't had any hiccups, he's been training really good, just as good as he was going into the Derby,” Rivelli told bloodhorse.com. “If everything goes well he'll make a good showing and we'll move onto the next, probably the Haskell and the Travers. That's our goal for the rest of the year.”

Jockey Jareth Loveberry will be aboard Two Phil's again in the Ohio Derby, and the pair have been tabbed as the 8-5 favorite on the morning line.

Second choice at 3-1 goes to the Brad Cox-trained Bishops Bay, last-out second in the G3 Peter Pan to eventual Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo. Florent Geroux ships in to ride the son of Uncle Mo.

Scratched from the Kentucky Derby after his trainer Saffie Joseph sent out a pair of unexplained sudden deaths earlier in the week, Lord Miles has not raced since winning the G2 Wood Memorial on April 8, 2023. The son of Curlin is the third choice on the morning line at 7-2 in the Ohio Derby, and will be piloted by Edgard Zayas.

Third in the G3 Peter Pan, the Doug O'Neill-trained Henry Q is the fourth choice at 5-1 on the morning line for Saturday's Ohio Derby. He will be ridden by Kendrick Carmouche.

The full field for the Ohio Derby is as follows:

Henry Q (Kendrick Carmouche, Doug O'Neill) 5-1
Timesatappin (Kevin Gonzalez, Lori Loudin-Smith) 30-1
Bishops Bay (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox) 3-1
Two Phil's (Jareth Loveberry, Larry Rivelli) 8-5
Agnello's Dream (Erik Barbaran, Jeffrey Skerrett) 20-1
Last Cookie (Leandro Briceno, Johanna Urieta) 30-1
Lord Miles (Edgard Zayas, Saffie Joseph) 7-2
Hayes Strike (Cristian Torres, Ken McPeek) 6-1

Breeders’ Cup Berths On The Line Wednesday And Thursday At Royal Ascot

Luxembourg (IRE) and Adayar (IRE) go head-to-head in the £1 million Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) June 21 at Ascot Racecourse. The Prince of Wales's winner will earn a guaranteed start in the $US4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) via the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In.

Now in its 16th season the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of 80 stakes races whose winners receive automatic qualifying positions, with fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, on Nov. 3-4.

Luxembourg, trained by Aidan O'Brien, has won six of his nine starts, securing Group 1 success ages 2, 3 and 4 for Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. He captured the Tattersalls Gold Cup (G1) in May, making all the running to defeat one of his Prince of Wales's rivals Bay Bridge (GB) by a half-length at The Curragh.

Always highly regarded by O'Brien, who hoped he would go on to Classic honors last year, Luxembourg had to miss most of the summer after finishing third in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas (G1), but came back to win the Irish Champion Stakes (G1) at Leopardstown in September.

Luxembourg finished fifth of seven in the Coolmore Stud Sottsass Irish EBF Mooresbridge Stakes (G2) at The Curragh in his seasonal comeback, but next time took a major step forward under Ryan Moore in the Gold Cup to secure his place in the 1 1/4-mile Prince of Wales's Stakes, one of two £1 million races during the Royal Ascot meeting.

“He came forward nicely to win at The Curragh and the good thing about it was he didn't seem to mind making the running, so we know he can do that if he wants at Ascot,” said O'Brien. “He doesn't have to do that. Ryan can decide for himself what he wants to do depending on the pace. He seems to have been in good form since.”

The Charlie Appleby-trained Adayar is a rare example of an English Derby (G1) winner who is still in training at age 5.

His trainer has long advocated that Godolphin's son of Frankel (GB) is capable of adding a Group 1 over 1 1/4 miles to his top honors, which he achieved in the 2021 Derby and in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1), both at the 1 1/2-mile distance.

Second to Bay Bridge in the QIPCO British Champion Stakes (G1) at Ascot in September, Adayar was a comfortable winner of the 1 1/4-mile bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes (G2) at Newmarket last month.

Appleby said: “He goes into the Prince of Wales's as near-favorite or joint-favorite, and deservedly so on what we saw at the Guineas meeting. He has come forward for that first run. Hopefully we can get our rewards, more so for him, for staying in training.”

Trainer Kenny McPeek has added a transatlantic flavor by bringing over Kentucky West Racing & Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust's Classic Causeway.

When last victorious in the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1) 11 months ago, he defeated three British rivals. After two dirt races to begin the season, Classic Causeway finished fourth on June 3 in the 1 1/16-mile Arlington Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs.

“We gave him a couple more tries on the dirt earlier in the season and he ran well but we are still trying to get back to his Group 1 form.” said McPeek, who has booked Julien Leparoux for the mount. “He's been a very good horse and he is very talented. In our last run we tried to rate him off the pace and he just doesn't seem to want a lot to do with that.

“I anticipate he will be on the front as that's his game. It's his ideal distance and I am interested to see what he does on a right-handed track because conformationally he may really like that.”

Ward Aims for Third Norfolk Triumph

On Thursday expect no quarter to be given in the £110,000 Norfolk Stakes (G2) for 2-year-olds, with the winner guaranteed a starting position in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. (G1).

Wesley Ward bids for his third success in the 5-furlong race with Stonestreet Stables LLC's American Rascal, a homebred son of Curlin out of two-time Royal Ascot winner Lady Aurelia.

In his debut in April at Keeneland, American Rascal won a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight on dirt by 10 1/4 lengths under Joel Rosario, who travels over to ride. American Rascal will be the last of Ward's 2023 team to run at the Royal Meeting.

“They say 'Save the best for last,'” said Ward. “He looks like he has taken after Lady Aurelia. He is really something. He's always been a high-quality colt and came to the barn with great expectations as far as his breeding is concerned, by a champion sire out of Lady Aurelia.

“You are always nervous when you come to Ascot to take on the most precocious 2-year-olds in Europe. But he is the best of what we have in America right now.”

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Elite Status (GB) is also held in very high regard by his trainer Karl Burke.

Unbeaten in two starts, Elite Status captured the listed Racehorse Lotto National Stakes at Sandown by 5 lengths last time out, a race his sire Havana Grey (GB), also trained by Burke, captured in 2017.

“I think Elite Status has the potential to be very good,” said the trainer. “I am very excited about him. He is a very talented horse with a lot of scope.”

As part of the benefits of the Challenge Series, Breeders' Cup will pay the entry fees for the winners of the Prince of Wales's Stakes and the Norfolk Stakes to start in the World Championships. Breeders' Cup also will provide a travel allowance for all starters based outside of North America to compete in the World Championships. The Challenge winner must be nominated by the Championships' pre-entry deadline of Oct. 23 in order to receive the rewards.

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Irish 2,000 Guineas Winner Paddington In A League Of His Own In St James’s Palace

Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Paddington (11/5) cemented his position as the best 3-year-old miler around by comprehensively seeing off 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean in the G1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

Despite racing three-wide on the bend, the fast-improving Paddington quickened strongly in the straight under Ryan Moore before powering clear to score by an emphatic three and three-quarter lengths.

Paddington's fifth successive win takes Aidan O'Brien above Sir Michael Stoute as the most successful current Royal Ascot trainer with 83 wins, nine of which have come in this prestigious mile contest.

Frankie Dettori had his own way out in front on Newmarket hero Chaldean but the colt had no answer to the winner's change of gear. Charyn kept on well from off the pace to edge out Isaac Shelby for third.

O'Brien said: “Paddington is very exciting. John [Magnier] said to me that this horse would get further than a mile if you wanted him to, no problem. Ryan gave him a lovely ride – I thought he was excellent on him.

“Obviously, when Frankie is in front, it is always very dangerous, but Ryan gave him a masterful ride. He didn't panic, produced him and he quickened. He is able to quicken very well – that is the big thing and what makes good horses great.

“The lads will have to think about whether they want to go to Goodwood for the Sussex Stakes. We will tell them after 10 days how he is, and then they will decide between themselves what they want to do. But he has all the options, because he has the speed to be a top miler, like we see, so it's very exciting.”

Discussing Paddington's unusual route to the top level, O'Brien said: “What we try in the spring is to get the horses out, and most of them are too high to be in a handicap, and we go the route we can start them at, and try to start as low as we can.

“The Madrid Handicap in Ireland is always a good race, like the [discontinued] Free Handicap here, if you can get into it. He won his maiden nice, but it mustn't have been a brilliant maiden, and then he obviously got a nice mark. He didn't win bolting on the bridle or anything, he won nicely without being over-impressive.”

Moore said: “Paddington has a lot of class. He stepped well and then two of the boys kicked on and I lost my cover going into the bend. I didn't want Frankie going on, but maybe I should have been a bit cold and ridden him from further back.

“He took me there quite easy and, when he put his foot down, he found plenty. He's a very good colt who is improving and improving. He's a proper horse – very straightforward – and he put them away very easily. I am very happy with him.”

Chaldean's trainer Andrew Balding said: “He was beaten by a very good horse. Frankie has just felt he probably just overdid it a little early, but I'm not sure whether that would have made a difference to the result. Two very high class horses.”

Frankie Dettori added: “Chaldean is a super horse. He found one too good today, but he was a good second. It was a solid run.”

Roger Varian said of Charyn: “I am delighted with how he ran – he seems to be improving. We were happy to put a line through his run in the 2,000 Guineas, but I was very happy with his run at the Curragh last time. He was beaten the same distance today by Paddington as he was at the Curragh. He's versatile, tough and genuine. Now we'll have to place him to win one of these. I don't think he's out of place in this company and I think he'll keep improving all year. He has finished third to two Guineas winners today and in another 100 yards he might have got second.”

David Egan added: “I was always confident that Charyn would outrun his odds. I saw he was 80/1 or so earlier in the day – crazy stuff, because he ran a great race in the Irish Guineas. He had a rough race, as did most in the English Guineas and was second at Newbury behind Isaac Shelby, so he's obviously turned that form around. I'm very proud of the horse – he has showed he has enough talent to compete with the big boys.”

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