TON UP!! Tenacious Scandinavia hands Aidan O’Brien his century of Royal Ascot winners under masterful Moore
Ballydoyle maestro Aidan O’Brien notched up a century of winners at Royal Ascot on Thursday when Scandinavia (Justify) denied defending champion Trawlerman (Golden Horn) a second Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2m 4f) in yet another extremely engrossing contest at the prestigious meeting.
Having proven himself a thorough stayer as a three-year-old with a battling victory in the English St Leger Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 6.5f), Scandinavia had been targeted at Thursday’s race since.
However, the son of Justify (Scat Daddy) had yet to prove himself beyond a trip of two miles – when he won the Goodwood Cup (Gr 1, 2m) from stablemate and last year’s Gold Cup runner-up Illinois (Galileo) – and his two wins this season had come over a distance of one mile and six furlongs.
Despite the slight question mark over the trip, punters latched on to the four-year-old young pretender and he was pushed in to a starting price of 11-8 before the off, having been readily available at 9-4 just 15 minutes earlier.
Ridden by Ryan Moore, Scandinavia was bustled up upon leaving the starting stalls to get a good position behind the John and Thady Gosden-trained Trawlerman, with the defending champion’s jockey William Buick opting to employ the front-running tactics of last year.
Sitting in second, the Coolmore-bred winner was moved back to fourth place when Caballo De Mar (Phoenix Of Spain) and Oisin Murphy decided to press up to second place on the outside.
Moore, unbothered by this move, sat quietly throughout until asking for more from his mount rounding the home bend.
As the customary bell sounded moving into the home straight, Moore was keen to latch on to the galloping Trawlerman, and the pair moved away from the rest of their nine rivals inside the final two furlongs.
A battle then ensued between the old warrior and the young up-and-comer, and it was the latter that eventually won out under a power-packed Moore ride.
The pair looked to have been potentially turned away with a furlong to run, but Moore lifted his mount across the line to a head success, with the third-placed Sweet William (Sea The Stars) a whole nine lengths behind the front pair and Australian Bloodstock’s reliable Group 1 winner Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett) in fourth.
“He should have won easier,” Moore admitted.
“I was happy where I was and then Oisin came up around me and I didn’t want us all going three in a line and then he took me out of the race and I’ve had to work to get to Trawlerman, thought I had it and then had to go again. Trawlerman is a brave horse, he kept coming.
“He [O’Brien] identifies these horses and brings them here, absolutely jumping out of their skin and I’m lucky to ride them.
“His [Scandinavia] record since he got beat here last year, he keeps finding a way to win. The answer with Aidan is he won’t care [about 100 Royal Ascot winners], he’ll probably be thinking about the next 100, that’s what separates him.”
O’Brien, who cut a delighted figure post-race making multiple phone calls to friends and loved ones, said of reaching the incredible milestone: “It’s very special. It’s a very special day for myself and everybody in Ballydoyle.
“There are so many people involved to help a horse get this far. Ryan gave him an absolute class, peach ride.
“That’s just incredible really [100 Royal Ascot winners], it’s something that we wouldn’t dream of thinking about because for that to happen you could not believe.
“Even this week, it’s literally one race at a time and you don’t even think what it could be or whether it could happen because it’s so competitive, so hard to win races here.
“We knew the second horse was a great horse, very brave. He [Scandinavia] joined him and you don’t know until you go past that two furlong marker what’s really going to happen but we felt he was very brave, he always showed that in every race, he’s relentless, he cruises.
“It’s an honour and a privilege for me to be involved with the team and be the small part that I am with everybody. The reality is everyone puts in the work and we watch it going on and I can’t tell you how grateful we are to everybody.
“Any race you win…..we love to be competitive and we love the competitive nature of everything and we like everybody building up around the race because that’s what everyone has to feel.
“It was unusual today, we listened and I was able to hear everybody. The crowd was very big and the cheer went up when they turned in but when he went to the front the sound went up so I was very surprised at that and the noise got louder and louder and that’s what it’s all about. What can I say? It was just an incredible feeling.”
John Gosden, co-trainer of Trawlerman, was immensely proud of his eight-year-old – who was making his first appearance of the season.
“What a race! We’ve had two ‘race of the meeting’, two big Group 1s, Wednesday and Thursday. It was a valiant effort,” he said.
“But I thought to do what he [Trawlerman] did off no prep race, limited preparation time-wise – an unbelievable run. He just got caught in the last ten yards, just there the lack of a prep-run cost him. Going a mile-and-a-quarter on the July course is not the same as having a two-mile prep run around Sandown, I can tell you!
Scandinavia has come, the other lovely horse has already had a go at him, George Scott’s horse [Caballo De Mar], and then he’s putting up the fight and you could see right through the half-furlong he’s held him and held him, then the last virtually 15 yards, Ryan has gone the full drive and this boy wasn’t beaten by much. A phenomenal race, this is what racing needs, and it’s great for the crowd.”
Trawlerman has been revealed to have a rare eye condition where he is sensitive to sunlight, something that has caused a big problem for the horse in recent months.
“Crikey! Having been sick, having looked like he would never ever race again, it’s quite extraordinary,” Gosden added.
“This horse… we thought, ‘What are we going to do? What are we going to do with him?’ He was in agony at Easter, unable to train him, left him alone, and only managed to train him the last short period of time. It was the eye trouble. He was in some pain with it. But these goggles have helped, the vets have done a brilliant job.”
He is an eight-year-old now taking on the brilliant, talented, new boy on the beat, who is four. The fact that he has done this, having been so ill as he was, he was in the intensive care unit at Easter weekend. We’ve only just been able to train him later on.
“We’ve built him up in his work, he went a mile-and-a-quarter on the July course, but that’s not the same as running in a prep race at Sandown, which we would have done. But he’s still run an unbelievable race and I think it’s a great achievement for the horse to do that.
“I think we will see where we want to go, now we are going to just check he is all alright, get his goggles as the sun is coming out. To me, it was the most exciting race to watch. Phenomenal finish between two magnificent stayers. The staying division when it’s like that is beyond exciting. To do that as an eight-year-old, having been so ill, is quite something.”
Of the third-placed Sweet William, who is also trained by the Gosden father-and-son duo, John added: “What a horse. He goes in there and picks up a lovely third prize. He’s always been his own boss, he trains himself. To that extent, he is wonderfully consistent. Third in the Gold Cup.”
Lloyd bags first Royal Ascot winner on Boughey-trained Moonfall
Australian jockey Zac Lloyd has had a fantastic run since making the trip over to the UK for the last few weeks, riding winners at both York and Doncaster, but on Thursday he landed his biggest win of all when he steered home the George Boughey-trained Moonfall (Starman) to victory in the Britannia Stakes (1m).
Backed in from 10-1 to a starting price of 13-2 for the mile handicap, Moonfall was heading into Thursday’s race having run an eye-catching fifth in a Class 2 handicap over seven and a half furlongs at Chester last month.
Jumping well from barrier 28 in the 30-strong field, the three-year-old son of Starman (Dutch Art) travelled well under Lloyd in a prominent position in the stands-side bunch.
With plenty pushing in behind, Moonfall was still on the bridle approaching the final two furlongs and, with Lloyd keeping his cool, was only sent about his business inside the final two.
Hitting the front, the gelding was challenged by Outback Heat (Too Darn Hot) inside the closing stages but fended off that rival to score by three-quarters of a length.
There was a further three-quarters of a length back to the third-placed Jamestown (Ulysses).
“This is unreal. To ride a winner here is very special,” Lloyd said. “Everyone kept telling me, if you think you’re going well, wait another five seconds. That’s all I was thinking about and by doing that it enabled him to be strong in the last hundred or so and he was holding his competitors quite comfortably.
“I was asked to come over here by George Boughey but Billy Loughnane is an absolute star. I was under no illusion I was going to take any of his rides but I can ride light which helps. He was probably my only bullet for the week.
“I wanted to come here, not expecting a winner, but hopeful I could make connections and next year if I come back it will grow and the year after that, that’s what I was aiming to do.”
Boughey, who had trained Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) to success in Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr 1, 1m), was delighted to give Lloyd his first winner at the royal meeting.
“It’s great. He’s a progressive horse and we thought he would be, saved him for the race,” the trainer said.
“Zac gave him a beautiful ride, very cool. He probably jumped a bit better than we had expected and it’s great.
“It might sound mad but I almost got more of a buzz out of that [than Bow Echo], it’s almost business with Bow Echo whereas handicaps are good fun. He was teed up for the race but it’s not been straightforward, he wasn’t right at the end of last year.
“Zac has come over to ride for us primarily. I called him in the winter and it’s nice when it comes off. He’s a very light young man and he obviously rides very well.
“He’s a beautiful rider, he’s been in a lot riding out for us. I was really keen to get him over. Zac’s taken it by storm down in Australia and it’s great to provide him with his first Royal Ascot winner.
“He’s a horse that we thought had a bit in hand and he was able to pull it off. He was one we were pretty hopeful for this week and when we got the high draw, it just sort of all fell into place – not much else to say really, it’s great.”