Seal of Approval leads Champions Day longshot parade

Jockey George Baker enjoyed his first Group 1 success when Seal of Approval

ran out an easy winner of the Group 1 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes

at Ascot on Saturday.

Baker's weighing-room colleague, Hayley Turner, had broken her ankle when

falling from the filly on her previous run at Doncaster.

"I got tight for room as we hit the home straight but, once I got a bit of

daylight, she has picked up nicely," Baker said. "I thought that she was very

good when I won on her at Newbury but I feel very sorry for Hayley Turner, who

is injured. This is her ride and it must break her heart to be sat at home but

she has done a great job with this filly. I'm thinking of her."

"We offered this filly at Tattersalls as a yearling (in 2010) and didn't

receive a single bid for her," owner-breeder Tim Vestey said. "We've had the

last laugh now."

Seal of Approval did not race at two, but won a maiden last year. This season

she has won twice more, including at Listed level, but fell when clipping heels

in Doncaster's Park Hill Stakes on her latest outing.

"She won so easily after a very interrupted passage at Newbury, and I asked

George afterwards whether she would be up to winning this race because I always

felt that she would improve on this ground," trainer James Fanshawe said. "She

has the best coat in the yard and she has gone and done it.

"She has shown real resilience today because a lot of horses would not have

battled through those gaps after what she went through at Doncaster. The plan is

to keep her in training next season because she has all the scope in the world.

She was quite excitable as a young horse, but she's grown up with age and could

improve again next season."

Jockey and trainer Johnny Murtagh was pleased with the performance of 10-1

shot Belle de Crecy after the filly finished second behind Seal of Approval. The

four-year-old had no answer to the winner's finishing kick but battled on

bravely to finish the four length runner-up with Talent a further neck back in

third.

"She's a very good filly and I think she's run another nice race," Murtagh

said. "She's shown herself to be brave and has battled on very well. Her last

win was the best performance of her career and she's justified her place in

Group 1 company here. I've just spoken to her owner (Andrew Tinkler) and she'll

have a break now and hopefully be back in training next year."

Trainer Ralph Beckett felt the ground was to blame for Talent's defeat after

the 7-2 co-favorite could only finish third.

"I'm very happy with that and she's run really well," Beckett said. "I think

the ground is to blame for her defeat. She likes some dig in the ground but it's

a lot softer than that out there today. That's about the long and short of it.

She's been Group 1-placed again and hopefully she can add to her tally next

year. I'm very pleased, very happy and it looks very much like she'll stay in

training next season."

The Eddie Lynam-trained Slade Power landed the biggest success of his career

when carrying breeder Sabena Power's colors to victory in the Group 2 British

Champions Sprint.

"That was brilliant," Lynam said. "He's a bit of a poser and when he hit the

front he just pulled up a bit. He wants quicker ground ideally but does go on

anything. The Powers bred this fellow and have the dam and all the sisters which

makes it even more special. 

"The Powers are very good to me and they are more than owners, they are

friends as well. We like getting on planes and if we get the invite to Hong Kong

we could go.

Lynam, who also saddled third-placed Viztoria, added: "The filly is only

three and it was a very good run, particularly as six furlongs is a little sharp

for her."

Jockey Wayne Lordan was delighted with the performance of Slade Power after

his mount battled back tenaciously to deny Jack Dexter by a neck. The 7-1 shot

has produced some of his best performances on soft ground in the past and Lordan

felt that the underfoot conditions were perfect for the son of Dutch Art.

"He got injured in this race last year but was only beaten 4 3/4 lengths

after he cracked his pelvis," Lordan said. "He has done nothing wrong all year

as he has been up against some good horses but he got his day today.

The Jim Goldie-trained Jack Dexter won the Apprentices' Handicap on this card

last year, and he went close to making it a double today. Jack Dexter had

finished third under top-weight in the Ayr Gold Cup on his previous outing, but

Goldie had no qualms about asking the four-year-old to step up several grades in

class.

"You need to be a quality horse to run as well as he did at Ayr. He's a

terrific horse and likes Ascot, just like his dad (Orientor, who Goldie

trained)," Goldie said. "He's not stopped improving and he ran very well at the

Royal Meeting, when fourth in the King's Stand Stakes. He likes soft ground, and

as Graham (Lee) said, he's not ridden many horses that can go through that sort

of ground so easily -- and he's ridden a lot of soft-ground horses during his

time as a jump jockey.

"I would think that's it for this season, but next year we'll go back to five

furlongs and have another go for the King's Stand. A soft-ground Royal Ascot

would suit us.

Maarrek, who was the victor in Prix de l'Abbaye 13 days ago, finished 12th

having been sent of the 7-2 favorite. The soft ground-loving gelding played up

in the stalls before the race and dwelt, losing a length as they jumped out and

thereafter never threatened to trouble the judge in the six-furlong contest.

Declan McDonogh, who rode the bay Pivotal gelding, said: "He was pretty bad

in the gates -- we went in last in Paris. He lost a hind shoe as well, his off

hind. He never traveled at any stage and he has run a stone below what he is

capable of."

Johnny Murtagh's amazing season was given a glittering cap when Royal

Diamond, who he trains and rides, landed the Group 3 British Champions Long

Distance Cup.

In a pulsating finish, Murtagh drove Royal Diamond ahead of long-time leader

Harris Tweed inches from the line. The winning distance was a nose.

The garrulous Murtagh, who earlier Saturday admitted he is "a good talker"

during an interview on Channel 4 Racing's "The Morning Line," was briefly stuck

for words and clearly highly emotional immediately after the race. This was the

first winner he has trained at Ascot, although he was leading jockey at this

year's Royal Meeting with four victories.

"I think that this is the best day of my life," Murtagh said. "I can't thank

everybody enough for giving me the horses. I've got wonderful staff, a great

wife and lovely kids -- God is good! It's been an amazing year for me -- I

really don't know what to say.

"The pace was slow and he was tanking along, but when they quickened up three

furlongs out he responded very well and just got there on the line. Royal

Diamond is all heart and all guts -- he's proved he stays today, so next year

you could see more."

Trainer William Haggas was delighted with the performance of stable favorite

Harris Tweed.

"I couldn't have more been proud of him if he had won," Haggas said. "He ran

his guts out and I am proud as punch. He was beautifully-ridden and I'm just

sorry for him that he was beaten but it was a career-best performance.

"I didn't really fancy him today, I thought they would be on top of him

sooner. He's earned a really good break and he'll be back next year as a

six-year-old."

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of third-placed Eye of the Storm, added: "He had to

miss the first half of the season and I am delighted with the run. It was a

great effort from a three-year-old and that's probably it for this year. He is a

lovely staying horse for next season."

The 2-1 favorite Estimate, owned by Her Majesty The Queen, had won the Ascot

Gold Cup at the Royal meeting on her last outing and many fancied her to repeat

the dose this afternoon, but the writing was on the wall for the Sir Michael

Stoute-trained filly a half-mile from home and she eventually finished seventh.

"She didn't handle the ground," jockey Ryan Moore said.

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