Irish Eyes Were Smiling At Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot proved to be a showcase for Ireland, with Irish trainers equalling last year’s record of eight winners and Irish-bred horses recording an awesome 14 wins, almost half of the 30 races over the five days.

Galileo was the meeting’s champion sire while Coolmore Stud’s first-season sire Zoffany made his mark with three wins in the six two-year-old races.

Irish bloodstock made an impressive start to the week with the Goffs London Sale enjoying a 27% increase in their median following last year’s jaw-dropping results.

The sale was topped by Tracey Collins’ G3 winner Majestic Queen selling to John Ferguson for £825,000, while Irish-consigned horses dominated the breeze-up section where David Redvers went to £200,000 for a well-related colt from Mocklershill.

Irish-bred horses began the Royal meeting with BURATINO taking the G2 Coventry Stakes, giving Kildangan Stud’s Exceed And Excel an impressive winner in the first major two-year-old race of the year.

A Listed winner last time out, the manner of the win was impressive as he swept past his rivals to beat Aidan O’Brien’s Air Force Blue and Kodiac’s Eltezam.

Aidan O’Brien recorded his first winner of the 2015 meeting with his dual Guineas victor GLENEAGLES in the G1 St James’s Palace Stakes where the son of Galileo strengthened his reputation as the best three-year-old miler in Europe.

O’Brien is the leading trainer of this prestigious race with seven wins and said of his latest winner, “For me Gleneagles is very like Giant’s Causeway (successful in 2000) but he has more speed. I don’t think we’ve had a miler as good as him.”

Ireland’s champion trainer in the National Hunt sphere, Willie Mullins, was victorious on day one with CLONDAW WARRIOR in the Ascot Stakes, carrying the silks of the Act D Wagg Syndicate.

Bred by John and Miriam Murphy, the eight-year-old began his career on the Irish point-to-point circuit for Colin Bowe before joining the ‘Shark’ Hanlon stable, for whom he won four races.

Zoffany is currently leading the European freshman sire table with eight winners, and he enjoyed his first Royal winner courtesy of Ballydoyle’s WASHINGTON DC in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes.

He showed an excellent attitude to battle and beat Kodiac’s Areen by a head. Bred by Paul Hyland and Chris and James McHale, he sold to BBA Ireland for €340,000 at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale.

Zoffany’s second Royal winner was another Ballydoyle charge, with WASHINGTON BRIDGE relishing a fast pace in the G2 Norfolk Stakes and ILLUMINATE gave Coolmore’s freshman sire his third and final winner of the week as she put on an impressive display in the G3 Albany Stakes.

The obviously top-class filly looked straightforward under Richard Hughes and came from well-off the pace to win by a length and a half.

Wednesday’s feature event, the G1 Prince Of Wales’ Stakes, provided Dermot Weld’s FREE EAGLE with a much-deserved G1 win as he held off dual G1 winner The Grey Gatsby by a short head.

The Moyglare Stud homebred’s win was all-the-more impressive given that it was just his fifth start and his first outing this season. The four-year-old colt by High Chaparral is one of three Group winners out of Polished Gem and will stand at the Irish National Stud next year.

The G2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes saw a career-best performance from AMAZING MARIA, with the daughter of Mastercraftsman appreciating James Doyle’s hold-up tactics. The Roundhill Stud-bred Rizeena completed a 1-2 for Irish breds in the race and Irish stallions have sired every winner of this race since 2011.

OSAILA continued a fantastic season for Danehill Dancer as the three-year-old defied a penalty to win the Listed Sandringham Handicap for Al Shaqab Racing.

The dual G3 winner, who was also third in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita, denied Cape Cross’s Always Smile by a nose, with a length and a half back to Exceed And Excel’s Touchline.

Yet another feature event went to an Irish-bred horse when TRIP TO PARIS, bred by Paul and TJ Monaghan, progressed to land Thursday’s G1 Ascot Gold Cup.

Already a four-time winner this season, including a win in the Chester Cup, he held off Aidan O’Brien’s Kingfisher (IRE), who in turn beat Dermot Weld’s Long Distance Cup winner Forgotten Rules by a neck.

Champion sire Galileo added yet another Royal winner to his tally as his David Wachman-trained daughter CURVY won the G2 Ribblesdale Stakes, which has been won three times in the last four runnings by Irish-trained horses.

Jim Bolger completed an Irish-trained 1-2 with Irish Guineas heroine Pleascach, who he bred himself, a length back in second. The three-year-old half-sister to dual G1 winner Power has excelled this year with a step-up in trip and won the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes last-time-out.

Ballydoyle’s fantastic week continued with WAR ENVOY bouncing back to form in the Britannia Stakes, beating Udododontu by a neck, with a length back to the Ger Lyons-trained Sacrificial.

Darley’s homebred SPACE AGE continued the day’s trend for Irish pedigrees when winning the King George V Stakes, beating the Knocktoran-bred son of Teofilo Scottish.

A horse for the future emerged in the G2 King Edward VII Stakes on Friday as BALIOS stayed on strongly under a patient ride to land the mile and four contest on just his third start. Second in a Listed event last time out, David Simcock said afterwards that he would only truly fulfil his potential next year.

The son of Shamardal was the first major victory for owners Al Asayl Bloodstock and was bred by Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan out of a black-type Galileo mare.

Victory for ALOFT in the Listed Queen’s Vase continued a tremendous week for Ballydoyle, Coolmore and Galileo, winning on his seasonal reappearance, having finished last year with a second in the G1 Racing Post Trophy.

Tommy Docc completed an Irish-bred 1-2 and the winner looks likely to follow the same path Leading Light did in 2013 by now going for the Leger.

ARAB DAWN ended a fabulous day for Irish stallions as the four-year-old son of Gilltown Stud’s Dalakhani came home half a length in front of a very competitive field in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes.

The number of Irish-bred winners came to 14 as INTERCEPTION took her earnings past €200,000 with a valuable win in the Wokingham Stakes.

A sweeping finish down the stand side saw her hold off French challenger Robert Le Diable and she looks likely to return to Pattern company now.

Bred by Corduff Stud and David Egan, the five-year-old mare is by Kildangan Stud’s Raven’s Pass and a half-sister to four-time Listed winner Dunelight and recent Listed winner Sperry, who was beaten just 2 ¾ lengths in the Coronation Stakes earlier in the week.