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Friday’s six-furlong G1 Commonwealth Cup for three-year-olds was hailed exceptional with three brilliant colts – Caravaggio, Harry Angel and Blue Point – producing world-class sprinting speed.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained and well-backed 5/6 favourite Caravaggio produced a spellbinding performance comprising speed and stamina, under jockey Ryan Moore, to land the third running of the race at Royal Ascot.
The race winner Caravaggio, ridden by Ryan Moore and owned by the Ballydoyle team of Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, took his unbeaten record to six.
After sitting in mid-field off the fast pace set by Harry Angel, Moore for the first time in the horse’s career had to ask the son of Scat Daddy to dig deep and find his reserves. His mount was not found wanting; he produced an amazing change of gear to quicken to lead in the last half furlong. It was an exhilarating performance by an exciting horse, who will be pivotal to the future strategic stallion plans at Coolmore.
The trainer and jockey combo secured a quickfire G1 double when Winter confirmed her superiority in the three-year-old fillies’ mile division with a decisive victory in the G1 Coronation Stakes.
The three-year-old daughter of Galileo found plenty for pressure to quicken away from the field in the closing stages to score by two and a quarter-lengths.
O’Brien paid tribute to the filly’s quality, commenting: “Winter is getting relaxed. She was a little bit lazy early on in the race, but she galloped on strongly at the end.
“She is doing well and is a big powerful horse now and we are delighted with her.
This year’s Queen Vase (G2) took place over a mile and six furlongs, having previously been run at two miles, and was upgraded to G2 status for the first time. The John Gosden-trained Stradivarius claimed victory with a gutsy race.
Ridden by Andrea Atzeni, the three-year-old son of Sea The Stars came with a withering run in the home straight and after hitting the front inside the final furlong, responded well to Atzeni’s urgings to score by a neck from Ralph Beckett’s Count Octave (8/1) in second.
Newmarket handler Gosden, registering his 43rd victory at the Royal Meeting and second success of the week, said: “It did get quite tight at the bend on the first circuit and it got a bit rough. He has run great, he got a beautiful ride and managed to get from stall 9 to the rail before getting through a gap at the end.”
Royal Ascot winners 2017 – Friday 23rd June
- G3 Albany Stakes – DIFFERENT LEAGUE (Theresa Marnane) Matthieu Palussiere FR 2-9-00 Antoine Hamelin 20/1
- G2 King Edward VII Stakes – PERMIAN (Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum) Mark Johnston 3-9-00 William Buick 6/1
- G1 Commonwealth Cup – CARAVAGGIO (Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith) Aidan O’Brien 3-9-03 Ryan Moore 5/6 Fav
- G1 Coronation Stakes – WINTER (Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith) Aidan O’Brien 3-9-00 Ryan Moore 4/9 Fav
- G2 Queen’s Vase – STRADIVARIUS (Bjorn Nielsen) John Gosden 3-9-00 Andrea Atzeni 11/2
- Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes (Handicap) – RARE RHYTHM (Godolphin) Charlie Appleby 5-9-02 William Buick 20/1
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RACHEL GROOM is Eclipse Magazine’s Photography Editor. Known for her ‘street’ photography she is also an in-house documenter of racing activities at a training yard in Epsom and loves a big day out at the races. You can see more of her work at www.rachelgroom.com
