DOCKLANDS DOES IT!!
On an incredible day that OTI’s Terry Henderson described as a ‘lifetime experience’, the Harry Eustace-trained and OTI Racing-owned Docklands (Massaat) produced his own lifetime performance to down his nine rivals in a thrilling edition of the Queen Anne Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.
In the 2024 renewal of the royal meeting’s opener, the ever-consistent Docklands ran second – beaten two and a quarter lengths – behind Europe’s top miler that year in Charyn (Dark Angel).
Returning to the same setting, and one in which he has become a specialist, the five-year-old entire produced a gutsy and classy display in equal measure to bag himself and his young trainer their maiden Group 1s.
Sent off a 14-1 chance on this occasion, having been 10-1 when second last year, Docklands was ridden by Mark Zahra and – having jumped slowly away from gate five – he was settled towards the rear of the field in the opening stages.
Coming through strongly towards the far-side of the track with the leaders beginning to wilt, Docklands and Zahra pounced to the front with over a furlong left to race.
However, with last year’s St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) winner and 5-2 favourite Rosallion (Blue Point) joining him inside the final furlong, Docklands looked destined for second place once again.
But, in his usual determined fashion, the son of Massaat (Teofilo) fought back under Zahra – who had dropped his whip inside the closing stages – to deny the Richard Hannon-trained runner by a nose in a photo-finish.
The front pair pulled a length and three-quarters clear of the third-placed Cairo (Quality Road).
“I’ve lost my voice I’m afraid but it was pretty sweet,” the winning trainer said. “It was tough watching, a photo-finish is always tough but he’s just been an absolute legend for us. If ever you wanted a horse that’s a specialist it is here because that’s the best racing.
“It sounds boring but the work and the effort that everyone back home puts into all our horses is the reason we’re stood here today and I can’t thank them enough.
“He’s an absolute star and more importantly, I can’t thank Terry [Henderson] and OTI Racing enough. They were offered a huge amount of money for him after he won the Britannia and they wanted to enjoy a good racehorse and roll the dice so thankfully it has paid off.
“He has the most unbelievable constitution and he just absolutely loves being a racehorse, he loves it every single day. He is very competitive and I knew when he ran well first time back after all that travelling, because we really did chuck it at him and he came back good, that he was going to run up to his best today and possibly be better because it really hardened him up.”
Having run second in last year’s Queen Anne and midfield in the International Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2.5f), Docklands then ventured down to Australia where he ran in both the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) (fifth) and Champions Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) (sixth), both times finishing behind star mare Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock).
A below-par 12th placing in the Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) capped off his 2024 campaign, but returned with placed efforts in both this season’s Paradise Stakes (Listed, 1m) over the Queen Anne course and distance and Diomed Stakes (Gr 3, 1m 0.5f) at Epsom just ten days prior to Tuesday’s career-defining victory.
“I was so scared about the whip rules, I thought it would just be easier to throw it away at the 200 [metres],” Zahra said.
“It was a very slow speed and I just crept as much as I could. I got room at the right time and Docklands burst through and kept responding, kept responding.
“What an amazing feeling. Unbelievable. I have to thank the boys that put me on him. One of the top days of my career for sure.
“Hearing all the Aussies over the fence, even though the horse is English, you’d have thought he was Aussie by all the screams; amazing experience for unbelievable people.
“Harry has been pumping me up the whole way. This just started as a stop-off on the way to a trip to Ibiza, so to turn into a massive win like this is very special. The closer we got, the more Harry filled me with confidence and he was right.
“Both Docklands’ runs this season have been really good. I rode him in Hong Kong with blinkers, whereas blinkers off today, and just looking at him in the field, he is a completely different horse.”
Tuesday’s win was the second at Royal Ascot for owners OTI Racing and Docklands, with the five-year-old’s triumph in the 2023 Britannia Stakes (1m) having been their first, and Terry Henderson revealed it was an easy decision to have Zahra take the ride after James McDonald had been engaged aboard the Ciaron Maher-trained Carl Spackler (Lope De Vega) – who ran a fair sixth having been keen throughout.
“He [Zahra] rang me up and I’d already spoken to James [McDonald] and he wasn’t available and Mark asked if there was any chance of riding Docklands,” Henderson told ANZ News. “I said ‘yeah course mate no problem’ and it was as easy as that.
“It’s tremendous. We were [pretty confident] and Harry has just done such a great job with the horse and he knows the horse so well. It’s just an absolute lifetime experience and such a great thrill for the Eustace family.”
Asked whether Docklands would head back to Australia for the Cox Plate in October, Henderson said: “Not necessarily as it is a bit of a fiddle to get there. One thing is that the horse will never leave Harry and he won’t be kept in Australia.”
It was an emotional affair for the Eustace family, with Harry’s brother David – who has enjoyed 30 winners to date in his maiden season training in Hong Kong – on hand to provide an emotion-filled interview.
“It’s the most amazing moment of either of ours careers to be honest,” David, who is a multiple Group 1-winning trainer himself from his time with Ciaron Maher in Australia, told ANZ News. “I am incredibly proud of him and the horse deserved it so much, and so did Harry.
“He’s had some near misses, obviously last year, and probably there’s just been some frustration with the horse running amazing races without winning so he really deserved it today. To be here with friends and family and mum and dad, it’s incredibly special.”
Prior to Tuesday’s success, Docklands (5 h Massaat – Icky Woo by Mark Of Esteem) had gathered a name as a bit of a rogue in the finish, having placed six times from 11 runs since his win in the Britannia two years ago.
“You can understand how that may come about but they were just genuine excuses every time he’s run,” David Eustace said.
“The other thing is that there is no doubt that he’s just a stone better horse here. You don’t get too many opportunities here but if you look at his form here it’s almost faultless and he proved that today.”
Commenting on his opening season and the prospect of Docklands making another trip over to Hong Kong later this year, David Eustace said: “I have really enjoyed the first season, obviously the horses are running pretty well consistently which is all you can ask for and hopefully we can have a strong finish.
“He’s an amazing horse that seems to be able to adapt to a lot of things. I won’t be the one deciding what he does but we’ll be cheering on whatever.”
Richard Hannon said of the runner-up Rosallion: “He is still a top-class miler. I thought he had it there. Well done to the winners. It was an extremely good race. He did everything for a win, you can’t ask for much more than that.
“He has done us proud and we are delighted. I’ll be alright in ten minutes! He’s beaten an awful lot of champions in that race. Hit the front, got done on the line, horrible! But nobody died and he’s run a great race.”