The Aussies are back
Nature Strip out to end unfinished business for sire Nicconi in King’s Stand Stakes on opening day of Royal Ascot
Royal Ascot organisers are delighted with the ‘stronger than usual’ contingent of horses to have jetted from Australia to take on Europe and the world’s best at the five-day extravaganza, which begins with keen anticipation today, amidst elevated interest from Down Under and across the wider international racing fraternity.
It will be the first time since 2019 that an Australian-trained horse has made the trip to the other side of the globe to contest the royal meeting, with the Covid-19 pandemic having for the last three years deprived the prestigious event of antipodean participation.
The great Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) was the last to triumph over the world’s best in the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, but a new Platinum milestone for the Queen has since passed with the newly named Platinum Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) taking centre stage on Saturday.
First up for the Australians is Nature Strip (Nicconi), who flies the flag on the opening day in the King’s Stand Stakes (Gr 1, 5f), a race in which Australian challengers have achieved notable success in recent years.
Prior to the heart-in-mouth success of unbeaten equine royalty Black Caviar, a long list of Australian Royal winners from Choisir (Danehill Dancer) to Miss Andretti (Ihtihad) have come and conquered the UK’s racing crown jewels, but two years before Black Caviar there was the unsuccessful trip of Nature Strip’s sire Nicconi (Bianconi), who when trained by David Hayes, made the long trip to Europe to represent Australia in the King’s Stand Stakes at the end of his career.
Nicconi was slowly into stride from barrier five and was held up over the five-furlong straight track contest, before switching inside and rattling to the line, but – ridden by Frankie Dettori – could only finish fourth, two and a half lengths behind Equiano (Acclamation).
Two-time Group 1 winner Nicconi was owned by a syndicate that included Widden Stud, the destination for the stallion’s ever-reliable stud career, and principal Antony Thompson will be watching trackside at Ascot today hoping to see his son Nature Strip offer a form of redemption at the royal meeting.
“It would be a huge thrill to see Nature Strip win for Chris Waller and the whole Australian team of supporters,” Thompson told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“For us there is a touch of unfinished business. While he ran very well, we came away a little bit flat. We had a wonderful experience with David Hayes, but we felt we were a bit unlucky and it would be really fitting if Nature Strip could complete that for him.”
Nicconi has developed into a consistent producer of good sprinters for Widden, with 479 winners from 690 runners, making for an impressive strike-rate of 69.4 per cent.
With eight-time Group 1 winner Nature Strip having claimed a first Everest (1200m) title in the spring, and the $6.749 million in prize-money that comes with it, Nicconi is set for a career-high finish of fifth in the Sires’ Premiership this season.
“To be at Ascot to watch him, represent us and fly the Aussie flag is something we’d be thrilled by,” Thompson said.
“It would be great to see him really add that exclamation mark and the international stamp to everything he’s already done. He’s been a fantastic and well-celebrated stallion, but it would be fitting if he was able to add to his achievements with a crowning glory at Ascot.”
In the interim period since Black Caviar’s victory – and excluding Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock), the then Aidan O’Brien-trained Australian-bred winner of the 2018 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) – seven Australian challengers for the Group 1 championship sprints at Royal Ascot have tried and failed, with the Chris Waller-trained Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible) having come closest in 2015, when runner-up to the Wesley Ward’s American raider Undrafted (Purim) in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
And it’s a Ward-trained rival that could come closest to spoiling the Aussie celebrations today, as the prolific Royal Ascot trainer saddles Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), a 7-2 chance yesterday evening behind Nature Strip who is holding 9-4 favouritism.
Nature Strip will jump from barrier ten in the 18-runner field under James McDonald, with Golden Pal drawn three wider.
It is a race that epitomises the international flavour to this year’s event, with the three Australian-trained contenders joined by a challenger from Japan in the shape of two-time elite-level winner Shahryar (Deep Impact) in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f), while Ward again brings with him an enviable array of talent from across the pond.
While seven-year-old gelding Nature Strip and his owners are playing for pride, prestige and prize-money, for his Chris Waller-trained stablemate Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) and owners Coolmore, victory in Saturday’s Platinum Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) could be a whole lot more lucrative for the three-year-old stallion prospect, who bids to add further value to his already sought-after CV with a northern hemisphere Group 1 win at Ascot.
He will be joined in the six-furlong contest by the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained, and Newgate and China Horse Club-owned Artorius (Flying Artie). The Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner is seeking to end a string of agonising near misses in Australian Group 1s in switching to the straight track of Ascot.
For Ascot’s director of racing and communications Nick Smith, the addition of Australian and international intrigue to the five-day festival makes for an exciting prospect.
“It’s always good to have them here. It’s been a long time since we’ve had this sort of level of Australian representation,” he said.
“Nature Strip and Home Affairs are without question the best sprinters in Australia and Artorius is right up there in class terms too. It feels like the old days, it’s good.
“The King’s Stand Stakes is all about the Australians, while the Japanese are represented in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes with a very strong contender, and the Americans have got representation pretty much across the programme. It just lights everything up and brings a huge amount of colour.”
Royal Ascot day one
Queen Anne Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) (12.30am AEST)
Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) (1.05am)
King’s Stand Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) (1.40am)
St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) (2.20am)
Ascot Stakes (2m 4f) (3.00am)
Wolferton Stakes (Listed, 1m 2f) (3.35am)
Copper Horse Stakes (1m 6f) (4.10am)