A round up of all the action for the Darley stallions over the past week
Royal Blue
There was only one place to be last week, and Ascot’s 2018 Royal meeting certainly didn’t disappoint, as the Berkshire course was bathed in sunshine for five days of superb racing.
The meeting started with a bang for the Darley stallions, as Shamardal’s son Blue Point confirmed the long-held view that he is a sprinter of the highest class with victory in the G1 King’s Stand Stakes.
Charlie Appleby’s charge had enjoyed little luck earlier in the year, withdrawn at the start from the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night, before an unsuccessful trip to Hong Kong, but the Godolphin colt could not have been more impressive on the opening day as he surged clear close to home to land the five-furlong contest by almost two lengths.
He became the 20th winner at the highest level for his sire, who enjoyed success at Royal Ascot himself when winning the G1 St James's Palace Stakes back in 2005.
Wednesday treble
Success for Shamardal continued into Wednesday, when his talented daughter Aljazzi provided trainer Marco Botti with his first Royal Ascot winner, going one better than her close second last year to win the G2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes. Tribute Act (Exceed And Excel) put up a career-best performance to finish second.
Aljazzi is likely to aim to add a first G1 to her record next month, with the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket’s July meeting under consideration.
The Prince Of Wales’s Stakes was the feature contest of the day and Poet’s Word provided a poignant result, as the son of the late Poet’s Voice gained a well-deserved first G1 win, becoming his much-missed sire’s first top-flight winner in the process.
Beating Cracksman by over two lengths (with a huge eight lengths back to Hawkbill in third), Poet’s Word also provided his trainer Michael Stoute with a record-breaking 76th winner at Royal Ascot.
The cavalry charge of the Royal Hunt Cup is certainly one of the most exciting races of the week and Settle For Bay (Rio de la Plata) brought up a Darley-sired treble on the day with a convincing two-and-a-quarter-length victory.
Gold Cup thriller
Thursday is Gold Cup day, colloquially known as Ladies’ Day and the longest G1 contest of the racing calendar once again attracted some of the world’s best stayers.
It was Stradivarius’s day in the end, but not before Manduro’s wonderful flagbearer Vazirabad ensured the race provided one of the finishes of the week, pushing his rival right to the line to finish less than a length behind the winner in second.
Later on the same day, New Approach, who has an outstanding record at Royal Ascot, provided the winner of the Britannia Stakes in Ostilio.
The three-year-old colt made almost every yard of the running and simply could not be caught, finding more and more under pressure to win by a length and a quarter. He provided trainer Simon Crisford with his first winner at the Royal meeting.
99 not out
Dubawi, already Britain’s most successful sire ever, is fast closing in on his 100th Group winner and on Friday, his three-year-old son Old Persian brought up his 99th with an impressive win in the G2 King Edward VII Stakes, also known as the Ascot Derby.
Old Persian, trained for Godolphin by Charlie Appleby, may make a swift reappearance as he could be supplemented for this Saturday’s G1 Irish Derby.
Exceed And Excel filly Threading was a top-class juvenile last year, winning the G2 Lowther Stakes, and she put up another superb performance to finish second in the day’s G1 contest, the Coronation Stakes.
Dash Of Spice (Teofilo) rounded off another successful day for the Darley stallions, shrugging off the 11lb penalty he’d received after his wide-margin win at Epsom earlier in the month to take the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes.
