Wootton Bassett’s Carmers extends unbeaten run in Queen’s Vase
The Paddy Twomey-trained Carmers, a son of Coolmore’s star shuttler Wootton Bassett (Ifrraaj), stretched his unbeaten run to three on Wednesday when he proved too strong in the Queen’s Vase (Gr 2, 1m 6f) at Royal Ascot.
A winner at Ballinrobe on debut on May 9, the colt then took Listed honours in the Yeats Stakes (Listed, 1m 5f) at Navan just eight days later and was then put away with Wednesday’s contest firmly in mind.
Ridden by Billy Lee, as he had been for his Listed success, and sent off a 9-2 chance in the market, the three-year-old produced a persistent effort down the home straight and stayed on strongly for a three-quarters of a length victory over Furthur (Waldgeist).
There was a further head back to the third-placed Rahiebb (Frankel).
“I appreciate being sent nice horses, and it’s great that he went and delivered for Fiona today,” Twomey said.
“He’s a very important horse for her. I knew he’d stay and I knew turning in that Billy looked comfortable, and I was happy to see the horse come out onside of them and not have him at the front, and he was able to get a fill into him. He looked comfortable; when the bell rang, I thought that we had a chance there.
“Staying is his game. He’d done everything we’ve asked. He’s obviously going to have an entry in the St Leger; we’ll see. He’s ran three times, he’s won three times, and hopefully he continues doing that.
“We’ve nice horses and good owners, and it’s fantastic to be able to come here with them. This is my first Royal Ascot runner.”
Carmers is bred in the purple being out of the winning Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) mare Signe, herself a half-sister to Epsom Oaks winner Forever Together (Galileo), Fillies’ Mile (Gr 1, 1m) scorer Together Forever (Galileo), and Prix Jean Prat (Gr 1, 1600m) victor Lord Shanakill (Speightstown).
73 for No Nay Never
Coolmore Stud-based sire No Nay Never (Scat Daddy) scored his 73rd individual stakes winner when the Aidan O’Brien-trained True Love (2 f ex Alluringly by Fastnet Rock) landed Wednesday’s Queen Mary Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) at Royal Ascot. Bred and raced by Coolmore, the filly is out of Alluringly, a Listed-winning daughter of Fastnet Rock (Danehill) who was also third in the Epsom Oaks (Gr 1, 1m 4f). She is already the dam of two winners including True Love’s Group 2-winning sister, Truly Enchanting and Lily Pond (Galileo), whose two wins are headed by a victory in Group 2 company at the Curragh. Alluringly is out of the unraced mare All For Glory (Giant’s Causeway) who herself is out of the Group 2 winner All Too Beautiful (Sadler’s Wells), who finished runner-up in the Oaks in 2004. All Too Beautiful is the dam of Listed winners Victory Song (Dansili) and Wonder Of Wonders (Kingmambo), who, like her dam, finished second in the Oaks and produced fellow stakes winner So Wonderful (War Front). A daughter of Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer), All Too Beautiful is also the dam of the stakes-placed Sparrow (Oasis Dream), who in turn produced Sir Dragonet (Camelot), whose two Group 1 victories include a win in the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m), Group 2 scorer Les Pavots (No Nay Never) and dual Australian Listed winner Sir Lucan (Camelot). No Nay Never stood for a fee of €125,000 (approx. AU$220,826) in 2025.
True Love proves too strong in Queen Mary as she breaks her maiden tag
Aidan O’Brien notched up his first victory in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot on Wednesday when his filly True Love broke her maiden in the five-furlong Group 2 contest. Having finished runner-up on her first two outings, including behind Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) winner Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) on the latest of those starts, the daughter of No Nay Never made no mistake on the biggest stage of them all as she defeated Flowerhead (Starman) by a length and a quarter under Ryan Moore. There was a further half-length back to US raider Lennilu (Leinster) in third. “She had two very good runs, she was second to a good filly first time out, then our own colt [Gstaad] beat her the second time,” the winning trainer said. “Ryan gave her a beautiful ride. Michael [Tabor, part-owner] always loved her, always spoke about her. It’s great because her mother is in foal to City Of Troy, and her sister is in foal to Wootton Bassett. It’s marvellous, really. Delighted.” Tom Magnier, Coolmore Australia’s principal, told ANZ News of True Love’s Listed-winning and Epsom Oaks (Gr 1, 1m 4f)-placed dam Alluringly (Fastnet Rock): “She’s by Fastnet Rock and he’s doing very well as a broodmare sire. To have two juvenile winners on the first two days of Royal Ascot is very exciting, but they’re also both out of Australian broodmare sires as well in Exceed And Excel [Gstaad, winner of the Coventry Stakes] and Fastnet Rock so it’s very good for us and fingers crossed things keep going.”
Well-bred My Cloud blitzes home in Royal Hunt Cup
The Roger Varian-trained My Cloud (Blue Point) proved too strong for his 29 rivals as he stormed home to land the Royal Hunt Cup (1m) at Royal Ascot on Wednesday. Ridden by Silvestre De Sousa, the colt defeated Bullet Point (Advertise) by three-quarters of a length with another half a length back to Boperdo (Pedro The Great) in third. Raced by KHK Racing Ltd, the colt was bought by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €325,000 at the 2023 Arqana Breeze-Up Sale. My Cloud is out of the unraced mare Beach Frolic (Nayef), making him a half-brother to multiple Group 1 winner turned Darley-based sire Palace Pier (Kingman) and Group 3 scorer Castle Way (Almanzor). Beach Frolic herself is a half-sister to Group 2-winning pair Bonfire (Manduro) and Joviality (Cape Cross). Varian said: “We have had to be patient with My Cloud, because he had a few niggles as a young horse, so we couldn’t get as busy on a racecourse as we’d like aged two and three. He only really got racing at the end of last year, but he has done well this year and it’s a great team effort at home. There are a lot of people to thank regarding this horse, the main person is the owner, His Highness Shaikh Khalid, who has been most patient.”
17 for Havana Gold
The Eve Johnson Houghton-trained Havana Hurricane (2 c ex Spitfire Limited ex Excelebration) produced an emphatic performance to win Wednesday’s Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed, 5f) at Royal Ascot and in doing so handed Havana Gold (Teofilo) with this 17th individual stakes winner. The colt came into the race having made a winning debut at Goodwood in May and was last seen finishing second to Godolphin’s smart performer Maximised (Mehmas). Ridden by Charlie Bishop on Wednesday, the colt produced a fine finishing flourish to beat Dickensian (Pinatubo) by a length and a half with a further half length back to Azizam (Havana Grey) and Rogue Legend (Havana Grey), who dead-heated for third. With Wednesday’s win the colt more than justified the 9,000gns his trainer and Anthony Bromley paid for him at the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale last year. Havana Gold died in 2023.