Ward stays hot at Royal Ascot with Jealous Again; France’s
Vision d’Etat wins
One day after saddling the first American-based winner in the illustrious
“She ran brilliantly,” Ward exclaimed. “I’m very proud of her, Johnny rode a
Misheer (Oasis Dream [GB]), who entered Wednesday’s five-furlong event off a
Ward sent out Strike the Tiger (Tiger Ridge), who was exiting a maiden
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“In America, we train for speed and the reason I came over here was I thought
the others in the race are trained to go on for next year,” Ward explained. “I
just thought I’d get a jump on the other trainers over here. Your horses are
bred to go longer and ours are bred for speed and it worked out today.”
Ward also saddled multiple stakes victor Cannonball (Catienus) to a
fast-finishing sixth in Tuesday’s five-furlong King’s Stand S. (Eng-G1) at Royal
Ascot and is expected to wheel the four-year-old gelding back in Saturday’s
Golden Jubilee S. (Eng-G1) at six furlongs.
Jealous Again was bet down to 13-2 from her 16-1 morning line. Following her
victory, Ward paid tribute to jockey Rene Douglas, who was scheduled to come
over and ride all of his horses before being paralyzed in a racing accident at
Arlington Park on May 23.
“One thing I would like to say is that Rene Douglas was scheduled to come
here to ride them and he was so excited about it,” the conditioner said. “I feel
so bad that he’s not here.”
In the afternoon’s biggest event, the Prince of
Wales’s S. (Eng-G1) for older horses, French raider VISION D’ETAT (Chichiscastenango)
rallied to the front in deep stretch and gamely out-finished favored Tartan
Bearer (Spectrum) for a half-length decision in the 1 1/4-mile affair. Winner of
the 2008 French Derby (Fr-G1), the Eric Libaud-trained colt was exiting a win in
the April 26 Prix Ganay (Fr-G1) at Longchamp. Olivier Peslier had the mount.
“He is a better horse this year and has grown
into himself,” said Libuad, who was saddling his first runner at Royal Ascot.
“The (October 4) Arc (Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe [Fr-G1]) was always going to be his target
this year and that is where he will go. He will have a break first and then go
for a prep race in the (September 13) Prix Foy (Fr-G2). The crop this year doesn’t look as good
(as last year) and he must go to the Arc with a very good chance.”
Tartan Bearer, who finished second in last
year’s Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), gave a fine account of himself in his second start
of the season. The Sir Michael Stoute runner captured the April 25 Gordon
Richards S. (Eng-G3) at Sandown Park off a 10-month layoff.
“He ran well and I’m making no excuses for him,”
Stoute commented.
French runner Never on Sunday (Sunday Break [Jpn]),
winner of the May 17 Prix d’Ispahan (Fr-G1) at Longchamp, finished another head
back in third.
David and Patricia Thompson’s Cheveley Park Stud
dominated the Windsor Forest S. (Eng-G2) as SPACIOUS (Nayef) and Heaven Sent
(Pivotal) finished one-two in the one-mile test for fillies and mares. With
jockey Johnny Murtagh taking the reins for trainer James Fanshawe, Spacious set
the pace and repulsed the more highly regarded Heaven Sent, who tracked
throughout and made a serious run at her in the final furlong, by a length.
“There didn’t look to be an obvious front
runner, so Johnny felt he would go out there and make it and he had a nice
lead,” Fanshawe said. “It was a hell of a battle with Heaven Sent. Obviously, my
ex-boss (Stoute who trains Heaven Sent) won’t be happy, but it’s great for us as
our filly has been a bit disappointing since the Guineas last year.”
Spacious finished second in the 2008 English One
Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) but had dropped four starts versus stakes
rivals since that notable performance. The four-year-old filly finished third
when making her 2009 bow in the June 6 Princess Elizabeth S. (Eng-G3) at Epsom.
Heaven Sent, who opened her six-year-old season with a second consecutive
victory in May 3 Dahlia S. (Eng-G3) at Newmarket, grabbed runner-up honors for the
second straight year in the Windsor Forest.
Three-time Group 1 queen Lush Lashes (Galileo
[Ire]) faltered in the final quarter-mile and checked in sixth as the 6-4
favorite.
Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum’s OUQBA (Red Ransom) opened Wednesday’s
program at Royal Ascot with a victory in the Jersey S. (Eng-G3) for
three-year-olds. Dismissed at 12-1 by the local crowd, the Barry Hills trainee
overcame a poor start to record an authoritative half-length decision in the
seven-furlong event under Tadhg O’Shea. Ouqba opened his 2009 campaign with a
victory in the April 15 European Free H. at Newmarket and rebounded from a 11th-place
finish in the English Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) on May 2.
“Obviously, he won very convincingly (in the
Free), but the Two Thousand Guineas came too quick for him,” said Charlie
Hills, assistant and son to the winning trainer.
In Wednesday’s other races, MONEYCANTBUYMELOVE (Pivotal) registered her
second second straight stakes win when posting a two-length score in the
Sandringham H. for three-year-old fillies, and
FORGOTTEN VOICE (Danehill Dancer) prevailed by 2 1/4 lengths as the 4-1 choice
over 24 rivals in the Royal Hunt Cup Heritage H.