Lazzat all heart to deny Satono Reve in thrilling Jubilee Stakes
A thrilling edition of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) went the way of last November’s Golden Eagle (1500m) runner-up Lazzat (Territories), who showed plenty of resolve to dismiss Japanese raider Satono Reve (Lord Kanaloa) and land a second Group 1 victory in Saturday’s feature.
The Jerome Reynier-trained gelding arrived in Australia last spring undefeated in six starts, and a winner at Group 1 level in the Prix Maurice de Gheest (Gr 1, 1300m).
First-up from a three-month absence in the $10 million Rosehill feature, the son of Territories (Invincible Spirit) went out on his shield under Antonio Orani, leading for much of the 1500-metre journey before going down 0.6 lengths to Lake Forest (No Nay Never).
Group 1 winners Tom Kitten (Harry Angel), Stefi Magnetica (All Too Hard), Joliestar (Zoustar) and War Machine (Harry Angel) were all in behind on that occasion, after which Lazzat was beaten 3.5 lengths by Voyage Bubble (Deep Field) when ninth in the Hong Kong Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) at Sha Tin in December.
Saturday’s £1 million Group 1 posed another international challenge for the four-year-old, who had taken a big step forward from his seasonal debut in France when dominating a 1200-metre Listed event at Chantilly in May at his latest start.
That overseas challenge was largely down to recent Takamatsunomiya Kinen (Gr 1, 1200m) hero Satono Reve, who was last seen when beaten 2.3 lengths by the world’s best sprinter Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (Gr 1, 1200m) on April 27.
Not to be intimidated by that particular form-line, Lazzat once again gave a bold sight up on the pace under James Doyle, sharing prominence with Australian import Storm Boy (Justify).
At the two furlong pole, the former Gai Waterhouse and Adrian-Bott trained colt quickly dropped out of contention, while Lazzat remained steadfast leading the far-side group just as the Noriyuki Hori-trained Satono Reve emerged best of the stand-side runners under Joao Moreira.
The two engaged in a terrific battle in the final stages, inching closer together as they put further distance on their rivals. Lazzat was not to be upstaged this time and held the Japanese horse all the way to the line, prevailing by a half-length.
Previously owned by Nurlan Bizakov, Lazzat was bought by Wathnan Racing in the lead-up to Royal Ascot and duly delivered them a fifth winner of the week, one better than their final tally 12 months ago. The victory also gave his trainer a first Royal Ascot triumph.
The Andrew Balding-trained Flora Of Bermuda (Dark Angel) – another recent purchase for Wathnan – finished a further three lengths behind in third place.
“It’s been an amazing week and that has capped it off,” Richard Brown, adviser to Wathnan Racing, said post-race.
“What an amazing horse race, he’s locked up with the Japanese horse there and they’ve gone a long way clear in a six furlong sprint. That was an absolutely phenomenal race to watch and to be on the lucky side is just amazing.
“A huge credit to Nurlan Bizakov who bred the horse and has a lot of the family, just very lucky they sold him to us, very special. They’re [Japanese horses] very hard to beat, they’ve got world class breeding operations. When you saw him [Satono Reve] come in, he’s a monster walking around here but that is a very, very brave performance.
“Flora Of Bermuda ran very creditably and had some very good horses behind her. These two [Lazzat and Satono Reve] have obviously gone a long way clear, but she’s best of the rest.
“It’s just very exciting. It really has been special. Obviously there has been a lot of investment but there’s been a huge amount of hard work from all these guys and that’s the cherry on top.”
Of the runner-up, Moreira said: “We went into the race with a lot of confidence, the horse was well in himself but unfortunately we bumped into a very good horse today.
“Halfway through I thought I had him done but he just had another kick, kept attacking the line. I was closing up again but we just bumped into a good horse. My horse ran really well. We thought we had a really good crack and I can’t complain, he tried his very best.”
Lazzat added some more drama when ejecting Doyle from the saddle and taking a lap of the Ascot track post-race, but was safely caught and returned to the stables.
Celebrating his fourth winner of the week, Doyle said: “I can’t take any credit for this – Jerome and his team told me all about him.
“Antonio Orani did a great job bringing him through the rankings, rode him in Australia when he ran such a good race in the Golden Eagle. We had all bases covered and Jerome was very confident, he said all week ‘don’t worry about the ground, everything is fine’.
“We mapped the pace out and thought if I end up leading, I end up leading and he said, ‘don’t worry he won’t stop’.
“I could feel him [Satono Reve] coming alright but you won’t get a more genuine horse than this, he really pinned his ears back when he joined me and he was always going to see him off.”
The gelding is conjuring up a fine CV, which now boasts eight wins from 11 starts.
With Saturday’s contest just his second attempt at six furlongs after his last start, he looks set to remain around that trip.
“After having been all the way to Australia and Hong Kong I was a bit scared that it was going to be tough to find Lazzat as the same as he was, but obviously we have been trying him over a mile to open his options but he’s a pure sprinter and we will stick to the sprinting distances over the straight courses for his future,” said Reynier.
“That was a pretty tough challenge [from Satono Reve]. I’ve been watching all his races and he’s always coming late and he’s always running on but James had a really good feeling with the horse and when the Japanese came to him he put his ears back and tried again and he said there was no way he was going to pass him today.”
Reynier said that Lazzat will likely reappear in August to defend his Prix Maurice de Gheest title before a return to the UK for the Haydock Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 6f) and Champions Sprint (Gr 1, 6f) in September and October respectively.
“The July Cup is coming a little quickly I guess but maybe we’ll defend his crown in the Maurice de Gheest, we’ve got the Sprint Cup and we can be back in October here because he can handle any ground, if the ground is heavy he can do it as well.
“He’s a very good champion. Today everything went right for once and we’re happy to have a first Royal Ascot winner, especially for Wathnan and Nurlan Bizakov as a breeder. I’m very happy for the connections involved.”