ASCOT, England :Docklands claimed victory in a thrilling battle with favourite Rosallion in the opening race at a gloriously sunny Royal Ascot on Tuesday, the start of five days of high-class racing, fashion and big-stakes betting at the famous English course.
Catching the leaders after missing the initial break, Docklands drove to the front to press Rosallion all the way to the line, with the judges ruling in his favour, despite jockey Mark Zahra dropping his whip.
The Harry Eustace-trained victor, second in this race last year, gave the trainer his third Royal Ascot winner.
“I just crept as much as I could and just got room at the right time,” said Zahra. “He burst through and just kept responding. It’s one of the top moments of my career for sure.”
Horses will compete in 35 races across the Royal meeting hoping to net a share of 10 million pounds ($13.5 million) of prize money. As well as eight Group 1 races with prizes worth a minimum of 650,000 pounds, the card features several handicaps attracting big fields of hopefuls.
The opening day features two other Group 1 contests including the King Charles III Stakes which will see Australian raider and last year’s winner Asfoora take on in-foal mare and Group 1 winner Believing.
In Tuesday’s feature race, the 650,000-pound St James’s Palace Stakes, the year’s best three-year-old colt milers including Irish, French and British 2,000 Guineas winners Field Of Gold, Ruling Court and Henri Matisse, will race over the round mile.
The prestige of Royal Ascot attracts trainers from all over the world and this year sees contenders from nine countries including Japan, Australia, France, Ireland and the United States.
Leading U.S. trainer Wesley Ward will miss the meeting for the first time since 2012 but France’s Lazzat, trained by Jerome Reynier, is fancied in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes for new owner Wathnan Racing, while leading Japanese sprinter Satono Reve is well backed for Noriyuki Hori in the same race on Saturday.
100 WINNERS
Multiple Classic winning trainer and Ascot’s most successful current trainer Aidan O’Brien is chasing 100 winners at the Royal meeting and starts the week on 91. Ballydoyle sends out a strong string including Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes hope Los Angeles, last year’s Irish Derby winner, and Lingfield Derby trial star Puppet Master.
O’Brien also trains Gold Cup favourite Illinois, who replaced long-distance star Kyprios as Ballydoyle’s first string for Thursday’s race after the dual-Gold Cup winner was retired in May due to injury.
First run in 1807, the Gold Cup is a gruelling two-and-a-half mile marathon that tests stamina and attracts the best staying horses in Europe.
One of the oldest and most prestigious races at Royal Ascot, the Gold Cup has attracted eight entries this year including the Aga Khan stable’s Candelari and second-favourite, the Godolphin-owned Trawlerman.
Epsom Derby-winning Ryan Moore is the meeting’s top current jockey with 85 wins on the course and he will have several chances to add to his haul.
Britain’s most successful female jockey Hollie Doyle is booked for 10 rides and will be looking to add to her 1,000-plus career wins.
While Royal Ascot attracts the biggest global names in racing, it is not all about the powerhouses such as Godolphin and big spenders like Amo Racing.
Small trainers have enjoyed big success in previous years and this week will see the likes of 100/1 Whitcombe Rockstar for small Dorset trainer Kieran Burke compete in the Royal Hunt Cup, while Regional starts at 17/2 in Tuesday’s King Charles for Yorkshire-based Edward Bethell having cost around 3,500 pounds.
Some 300,000 visitors are expected to attend with entry tickets running from 25 pounds into the thousands for premium passes.
($1 = 0.7387 pounds)
