Sober emerges as another Melbourne Cup contender for Mullins
The Willie Mullins-trained Sober (Camelot) was a facile winner of Royal Ascot’s concluding Queen Alexander Stakes (2m 5.5f). A dual Group 2 winner in France before his debut win for his new stable over hurdles last month, Sober was sent off the 4-5 favourite under Ryan Moore and proved a class above his eight rivals. The six-year-old gelding delivered a push-button response to go clear in the final stages, running out a five-length winner over Samui (Siyouni), with Wild Waves (Crystal Ocean) another two and a quarter lengths back in third. Mullins said: “We bought this horse and he has surprised us; he’s improved a lot more than I thought he would. We will aim for the Melbourne Cup – this was stage one. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, but we’ll get them done.”
147 for Lope De Vega
Ballylinch’s marquee resident Lope De Vega (Shamardal) scored his 147th individual stakes winner courtesy of Noble Champion’s (3 c ex Cute by Diktat) victory in Friday’s Jersey Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) at Royal Ascot. Trained by Ed Walker, the colt finished seventh in the Greenham (Gr 3, 7f) on his three-year-old debut, before posting a third place finish behind subsequent King Edward VII Stakes (Gr 3, 1m 4f) winner Amiloc (Postponed) and came into the race off the back of another seventh-placed finish in Group 3 company at Newbury. Ridden by Kieran Shoemark on Saturday, the colt hit the front inside the final furlong and then drifted towards the standside rail, but surged clear to beat Spy Chief (Kingman) by three quarters of a length. Comanche Brave (Wootton Bassett) filled the third spot, another two and three quarter lengths away. Bred by Thomas Foy and Lope De Vega Syndicate, Noble Champion is out of Cute (Diktat), making him a half-brother to Group 2-winning sprinter Pogo (Zebedee), while further back this is the same family as multiple Group 1-winning champion Love (Galileo). Lope De Vega stood for a fee of €175,000 (approx. AU$311,613) this year.
Noble Champion repays Walker’s faith
After Noble Champion’s victory, Ed Walker admitted the colt had been frustrating this season so was happy to see him finally live up to the yard’s expectations. “It has been a great week. We have had a few blips, but we are thrilled. I am just so pleased for this horse. We had massive belief in Noble Champion coming into this year and, for one reason or another, we have just not got it right,” the trainer said. “He had a setback in January, which messed up our prep for the Greenham; he needed that run. We always thought he was a Guineas horse. We really believed in him but we thought we’d go a sensible route and ran in a conditions race at Goodwood over a mile. There wasn’t much pace and he was keen and just got it all wrong. We then brought him back to six furlongs at Newbury because he had shown so much speed at home. We even thought we might end up supplementing him for the Commonwealth Cup, but that didn’t work, and finally the trainer got it right! Noble Champion is as good a work horse as we have had; he has such a high cruising speed and is just a very smart horse. He has driven me mad. It has been really difficult, and I’m probably guilty of wearing my heart on my sleeve. I tell my owners if I think horses are good, bad or ugly, and I’ve told Simon [Sadler, owner] how much belief I had in this horse. There have been excuses, but I said to Simon, if it doesn’t work today, then I don’t know what is going wrong.”
Get It produces gutsy performance in the Wokingham
Get It (Twilight Son) produced a brave front-running performance to prevail in a competitive edition of the Wokingham Stakes (6f) at Royal Ascot on Saturday. After jumping cleanly, the gelding was urged to the front by Seamie Heffernan and did not see another rival, coming home strongly to repel the late advances of More Thunder (Night Of Thunder). Baker said: “Seamie has given him an absolute peach. He has basically given him a Pat Cosgrave ride, which is just let him roll, and he will come back to you. Then let him go again, and he did that. It is a long way home, that final furlong, but what a thrill. We bought him relatively cheaply at the horses-in-training sale a couple of years ago. He has won in Racing League, Bahrain, a Stewards’ Cup, and the Wokingham. How many horses have won the Stewards’ Cup and Wokingham? Not many. He is a dude of a horse and credit to everyone involved. He has been a star.”
Eight for Ulysses
Cheveley Park Stud resident Ulysses (Galileo) supplied his eighth individual stakes winner when Humidity (2 c ex Sultry by Pivotal) extended his unblemished record to two in the opening race on the final day of Royal Ascot, the Chesham Stakes (Listed, 7f). The Andrew Balding-trained colt hit the front over two furlongs out under James Doyle and looked to have plenty in his reserve as he repelled the challenges of Thesecretadversary (St Marks Basilica) and Moments Of Joy (Justify) on either side. With ears pricked, he went on to score by a length over Thesecretadversary, with Moments Of Joy fading to finish another length and a quarter behind. Racing in the Wathnan silks, Humidity was bred Cheverly Park and being out of Pivotal (Polar Falcon) mare Sultry is a brother to 2022 Chesham Stakes winner Holloway Boy, who has gone on to win at Group 3 level and be twice Group 1-placed. Ulysses stood for a fee of £8,000 (approx. AU$16,678) in 2025.
Quai De Bethune takes Golden Gates Stakes
Quai De Bethune (Persian King) got up in the final stride to take out Saturday’s Golden Gate Stakes (1m 2f) and give trainer Andrew Balding a double on the final day of Royal Ascot. Ridden by Oisin Murphy, who was bringing up a fifth winner at the meeting this week, the three-year-old colt beat favourite Seraph Gabriel (Saxon Warrior) by a nose, with Best Secret (Persian King) another length away in third. “Very pleased,” Balding said of his fourth winner of the meeting. “We’ve had this race in mind for him for a good while now, but you need everything to go right. He was given an outstanding ride and we just got the margins at the end of the race.” Now a two-time winner from six starts, Quai De Bethune is entered for the upcoming Tattersalls July Sale, where he will be consigned by his trainer as Lot 895.