Royal Ascot 2024 day two review & replays

Leo roars in Queen Mary

Wathnan Racing’s strong Royal Ascot team opened their account for the meeting when Leovanni (22/1) drew right away from her rivals in the Queen Mary Stakes.

Racing in the smaller of the two groups on the far side of the track, Karl Burke’s filly had to race on her own for much of the closing stages but Leovanni was very professional under James Doyle on just her second career start, running on strongly to win by a length and three quarters.

The placed horses both came from the stands’ side group with Mighty Eriu (50/1), trained by Gavin Cromwell, flying home for second; Maw Lam (50/1) was third for Adrian Nicholls and Miss Lamai (also trained by Burke) fourth at 22/1 to complete another surprise outcome to a juvenile contest following Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes.

There was a notable gamble in the five furlong heat with Kassaya backed down to 7/2 favourite from double figure prices and she appeared to be travelling quite well but Oisin Murphy had a wall of horses in front of him and the gaps never opened. Miss Rascal had also been popular in the build-up to the race but she fluffed her lines out of the gates – one or two had got worked up, leading to Kuwaitya being withdrawn – and was never able to get competitive although she did make late gains to claim fifth.

“It’s been a lot of work from everyone behind the scenes,” said Doyle. “It’s easy for me just riding them but, a lot of work has been put in by Richard Brown, his whole team, Oliver Tait, everyone behind them, it’s not just those guys. There is a big team behind them that have selected these horses.

“I was pleased with her on debut, she won like a potentially smart filly but it’s so hard to tell. Look at yesterday, I had the choice of three in the Coventry Stakes and the one I picked finished out the back. The other two just got beat. It’s very difficult to make choices, thankfully I didn’t have to choose between two in this race!

“I won this race before on a filly called Rizeena for Clive Britain (2013) and I would say this filly has all the class that she had. The raw speed, the ability to relax, the temperament, being versatile with the ground. There is a lot to look forward to with her.”

Burke said of the winner: “I watched it live, so I would love to see a replay of it. From watching it live, it looked very smooth. James said that she travelled beautifully. She’s got a fantastic mind, this filly. Not just for a two-year-old – for a breeze-up two-year-old she’s unbelievable. So relaxed and that’s all credit going forward – that will be a great help to her. I’m sure she’ll stay six.”

Reflecting on this being a significant win for the owners, he added: “For sure. I know Richard Brown and the team, they’ve done fantastically well. I know they’ve paid a lot of money, but that just adds more pressure. So to get one result is great, hopefully that’s not the last of the meeting.”

Illinois boosts Leger claims

Illinois (7/4 favourite), second to Ambiente Friendly in the Lingfield Derby Trial last time, ground out victory in the Queen’s Vase to provide trainer Aidan O’Brien with his eighth winner of the race, equalling the record tally of Sir Henry Cecil.

Ryan Moore was quick to ask Illinois to take a prominent pitch and they raced on the outside of Mr Hampstead in a share of the lead for much of the 14 furlongs. As he’s done so often before, Moore kicked for home off the final turn and Illinois opened up by two or three lengths.

He continued to grind it out despite wandering off a true line in the final furlong, as he had at Lingfield, but had enough in hand to keep the challengers at bay.

There was trouble in behind the winner but Highbury, Birdman – who was stuck wide throughout – and Meydaan emerged to give chase, finishing in that order. The winning distances were a length and a quarter and three parts of a length.

Illinois received quotes in the region of 6/1 for the St Leger at Doncaster in September.

Moore believes the Galileo colt has the right credentials to contest the final Classic of the season, saying: “He’s got plenty of talent. He’s doing a few things wrong still. A Lingfield he hung right so we thought it would suit him coming here today but he hung left with me. He’s got a good engine, he’ll keep improving and he’s a real nice staying horse.”

O’Brien concurred, adding: “He’s obviously a Leger-type horse and is going to improve from three to four.

“We felt that any three of them could win but Ryan made the decision on this one. When Diego (Velazquez) got rerouted to the King Edward VII Stakes, this horse got rerouted to here.

“Ryan felt that he would stay. He felt that when he got beat at Leopardstown it was the ground and he felt he was very green when he went to Lingfield. Obviously, all those types of horses had a much easier time than they would normally have because they would be steered into the Derby but when City (Of Troy) was there, it gave all these horse a chance to develop slowly.

“He’s a bit of a baby mentally still, so he might have a little rest now and maybe go to York on the way to the Leger, something like that. I think he might have a little bit more class than a Cup horse. His brother and sister won the Arc, so he’s that type.

“Ryan said he was caught in a position all the way through the race that he would have preferred not to have been; he was neither up nor back and he wasn’t getting an easy lead. He had to do it tough. He went to the front, then he flattened out – he said the race was over, then he had to ask him to come again. He probably learnt a lot today.

“Highbury is only a baby and we didn’t know what to expect, but obviously he’s a good horse. Wayne said he was very babyish through the race, and will have come on a lot. He’s probably a nice horse as well, probably a Leger-type horse.”

Running them ragged

The enigmatic Running Lion (6/1) made every yard in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes under Oisin Murphy as trainers John and Thady Gosden saddled the one-two with Laurel running a big race on her belated reappearance.

A disappointing favourite at Epsom last time, Running Lion was on her best behaviour in the Group 2 and appeared to relish the return to more forceful tactics. The chasing pack were largely close enough if good enough in the straight but couldn’t match the winner’s toe.

Laurel, settled in midfield on the inside, got a beautiful split against the rail but took time to hit top gear on her first start since May 2023 and was two lengths down at the line.

Doom was the same distance away in third with Magical Sunset outrunning her 66/1 odds in fourth.

“She’s by the horse that put me on the map, Roaring Lion and she’s owned by David Howden, who sponsors Ascot through Howden Insurance – he’s here,” said a delighted Murphy.

“She was brilliant today, we got it together. The plan was to go forward and forget about her last two races. She relaxed for me, you could see her pricking her ears before we joined in, and how dominant was she at the line.

“She was too keen at Newmarket and I got there too soon. Today, I pretended Newmarket didn’t happen.”

John Gosden said: “This filly has been unlucky. She moved a bit soon in the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket, gets boxed in at Epsom. We did decide, third time, Oisin, do what you want. He’s drawn 11, go to the front, control it. It was perfect, because we got in a muddle in the last two races.

“She got heatstroke in the Diane, kicked the gates out at Epsom, was third in the Guineas…

“The second filly has run a brilliant race – she’s been off for 13, 14 months, so she’s run an absolute blinder from the inside and Ryan is very happy with her.”

An exuberant Howden added: “I knew she had it in her and what a way to do it, fantastic.

“She gets her head down, she changes her legs and she digs in. Her sire Roaring Lion ran the same way, with his head down, and it’s wonderful to see.

“We’re obviously a partner at Royal Ascot, I bred her, she’s by Roaring Lion who tragically died, so it just couldn’t be more special. For Oisin to do it on Roaring Lion’s filly is as good as it gets.”

David Redvers added: “I think we’re all pretty delirious. She’s obviously had a couple of near efforts, and what’s great is seeing her now with everything kept really simple and uncomplicated. Oisin said she loved meeting that ground, loved the hill and hopefully that is the start of an upward trajectory towards a Group One before too long.

“There is no one riding better than Oisin at the moment. He was so frustrated with the outcome and the ride at Epsom, he made up for it today in spades. It’s lovely to have a Tweenhills-bred winner, bred in partnership with David. The old line is that this is our Olympics, but it really is, so to get one like that… We’ve had four seconds virtually in a row for Qatar and it is getting really frustrating, so hopefully we can have one for Qatar as well.”

Tiger beats horses for courses to the Hunt

Wild Tiger provided trainer Saeed bin Suroor with a third success in the Royal Hunt Cup to delight punters who backed him down to the 11/2 joint-favourite.

Always front rank under Murphy, it wasn’t entirely clear which of the four groups had the advantage but as the front-runners from across the course congregated towards the centre if was clear that Wild Tiger had the lead.

There was a moment or two’s concern when Sonny Liston, last year’s winner, flew home but the top-weight got going too late and was a head down where it mattered.

Other former Royal Ascot winners returned to form with Britannia hero Perotto taking third, ahead of Daysofourlives, with a Chesham Stakes winner in Holloway Boy finishing fifth.

The winning rider said: “Saeed provided me with my first Royal Ascot winner (Benbatl) and he’s given me another one today. He’s been integral in my career. I’m very grateful to him and his Highness Sheikh Mohammed, and all the people who work for Godolphin. It’s a huge operation and these successes are important.

“He is very clever. He conserves energy all the way and then when you ask him, he’s instant. I knew I had used up a little bit of energy in that forward position and that I was a good target for the horses behind, but I had a horse who was well weighted and perfectly prepared.

“He got the mile well, he relaxed brilliantly. He had the perfect preparation and Saeed was very confident – he told me I’d win and I’m glad we got it done.”

Bin Suroor added: “I always liked him. Last year he had some tiny problems and I stopped running him. This year he is doing good and physically he looked much better when he arrived back in Newmarket from Dubai.

“Early August there is a Group 3 for him. We’ll keep him at a mile, he’s got plenty of speed and maybe look at going a mile and a quarter later on.

“We are always searching for something. It isn’t easy. In the past I used to have 220 horses. Now we have 40 horses and unfortunately they are not that good. We have to keep a small number that we think might do something, but the majority of them are not very good, which isn’t easy for the stable. We try to keep everybody happy and luckily this horse has won at Royal Ascot and that means big things for everybody. Last year we had Mawj, she won the 1,000 Guineas and a Grade 1 in America, and this year we have Wild Tiger, who is a winner at Ascot.

“I said to Oisin, keep out of the way of the others! I said that this was my chance to have a winner here. He’s a top-class jockey and he did it very well.”

Hope runs out in Kensington

Hopeful was sent off the 13/2 favourite for the Kensington Palace Stakes and for much of the last of the eight furlongs it appeared as though Mickael Barzalona and Andrew Balding’s four-year-old was going to collect.

She did, though, have Doha (10/1) for company and after a good tussle, Doha eventually wore her rival down in the final, exacting yards to provide some compensation for trainer Ralph Beckett who had seen Sonny Liston narrowly denied a little over half an hour prior.

The pair were clear of Victoria Falls in third and the strong-travelling Rowayeh in fourth. Aurora Dawn was next.

Winning rider Hector Crouch said: “The race couldn’t have gone any smoother for me. I wanted to follow Mickael into it; I thought he had a fantastic chance and I thought he was the one to aim at. I got a lovely clean run at them on the outside and she stayed the trip well. She gets a mile and a quarter, and I’m delighted.

“She’s got improvement to come; it’s only her second time trying a mile and it’s her first time on good to firm ground. They pulled a long way clear of the third and she should be one to keep on-side of. She’s opened up plenty of options with her performance today, and we’re due an exciting season.

“This is the biggest week in British racing. And Sheikh Joann, to ride a winner for him, he’s been a massive supporter of the sport in years gone by and it’s great that he’s having a resurgence in England. It’s a massive honour and privilege to ride for these people, and to ride them a winner on the biggest stage is what we want to be doing.

“Ralph has been fantastic to me for the last four seasons now and I’m very lucky to be in a position to ride such lovely horses, and he’s very loyal.”

“It’s been a bit of a circuitous route because we dropped her back to a mile because we thought it was a winnable maiden,” explained Beckett.

“Obviously Royal Ascot is a big deal for Sheikh Joaan and Al Shaqab. It just occurred to me that dropping back to a mile in a race like this, where they go a good gallop, might just play to her strengths.

“Obviously she’s bred to get a mile and a half well, and more, so it was a roll of the dice but it was worth doing and it worked out.”

Ain’t Nobody like the Punting Pointers

Our star daily duo of David Massey and Rory Delargy hit the target in the Windsor Castle Stakes as Ain’t Nobody (5/1) landed a gamble for Kevin Ryan and Jamie Spencer.

Advised in their Punting Pointers column at 14/1, supporters had to wait until late in the day to cheer their mount home. The action unfolded under the stands’ side rail where American challenger Gabaldon was running a terrific race from the front.

However, as is so often the case on the straight course at Ascot, Spencer had timed his run to perfection and although he had to get serious with the son of Sands Of Mali, the pair always looked like picking up the leader and they ran on to score by a length.

Aviation Time was third at 28/1 with Weissmuller fourth at 100/1.

“Normally I take my time but it’s a speed favouring track today,” said Spencer.

“I knew, hoofing him out that I’d still be a couple of lengths off them after a hundred yards but I had a lovely lead off them.

“I got a little bit lost coming to the final furlong, where he eased out a little, but once he straightened up, off he went.

“It’s a well-trodden quote that’s our Olympics, we’ve got our Classics but this is the most important Flat meeting of the year so to get on the board is important – you only get so many chances.

“I’m especially pleased for Kevin, he’s a great guy. I’ve been riding for him for a long time and Kevin – and his team – deserve all the success they get.”

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