Ascot reaps reward for foreign policy
The great and the good may be preparing for the trek to Berkshire next week but for some the odyssey that is Royal Ascot has required a little more than simply negotiating the traffic along the A332.
This year Ascot will be welcoming runners from Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States. Some may travel more in hope than expectation but surely none will have the luck of Brook, who was brought over from Italy by trainer Mario Benetti to run in the Queen Anne Stakes in 1974.
After an amazingly rough race Brook, ridden Brian Taylor, finished fourth, but was awarded the prize after the first three past the post - Confusion, Gloss and Royal Prerogative - were all disqualified after a stewards’ inquiry.
There are three Australian runners at the meeting and Gold Trail and Nicconi will be trying to improve upon their country’s impressive record in the King’s Stand Stakes, one of the Group One highlights of the opening-day card. However, they will not be turning up as the sort of unknown quantity that Choisir was when he arrived with trainer Paul Perry seven years ago.
The formal introduction lasted just the 59.68 seconds it took Choisir to scorch home over the five furlongs as an unconsidered 25-1 shot in the King’s Stand Stakes on the Tuesday. But it lingered in the memory of backers and he was sent off as a 13-2 shot when he won the Golden Jubilee Stakes four days later.
Nicconi, who is trained by David Hayes, is the market leader and his victory in the Group One Lightning Stakes, at Flemington in January, is the same route that Choisir (2003), Takeover Target (2006), Miss Andretti (2007) and Scenic Blast (2009) all took before their victories in the King’s Stand.
He is unbeaten when he has run over five furlongs and is best when fresh so the three-month break from his last run, when he finished down the field in the Group One Newmarket Handicap, should not be a problem, although it makes him less likely to attempt the double in the Golden Jubilee. The King’s Stand could be Nicconi’s final run before he is retired to stud but the trainer, who is also a part-owner, could be tempted to stay on for a crack at the Darley July Cup at Newmarket next month.
Alverta, trained by Paul Messara, is being kept back for the Golden Jubilee and Messara has been heartened by the way that the mare has recovered from her journey, during which she lost 40kilos. “She’s improved and just piled the weight back on,” Messara said.
She will be joined by two runners from Hong Kong, Happy Zero and Joy And Fun, but one trainer who has seen life reach zero and now revels in the joy and fun of his success is Carl O’Callaghan.
The man from County Clare, who left Ireland to seek success in America, was once living rough on the streets of New York. Now he is one of the up-and-coming trainers in the US and runs Kinsale King in the Golden Jubilee. After years working for top trainers, including Todd Pletcher, O’Callaghan took a licence out last year and hit the big-time at Meydan in March when Kinsale Lad won the Group One Golden Shaheen at the Dubai World Cup meeting, where O’Callaghan’s manic post-race celebrations – which he described as his “Irish river dance” - brought almost as much attention as his horse, whom he feeds on a diet that includes Guinness and eggs.And he certainly talks a good race: I’m always confident – that’s how I live my life, but it’s a tough race and these things are never easy. They’re not sign you a cheque with your name on it.
Kinsale King will be ridden by Kieren Fallon, who also takes the mount on Noble’s Promise for another American trainer, Kenny McPeek, in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
Last year Wesley Ward broke new ground when he took the meeting by storm as the first American-based trainer to win at Royal Ascot when Jealous Again won the Queen Mary and Strike The Tiger landed the Windsor Castle Stakes, while Cannonball was a neck second to Art Connoisseur in the Golden Jubilee after finishing fifth to Scenic Blast in the King's Stand.
McPeek has experience of Ascot himself having run Hard Buck to finish second to Doyen in the 2004 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Noble’s Promise failed to stay the 10 furlongs when he finished fifth to Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and the lack of quality opportunities over a mile is the motivation for McPeek coming from the land of opportunity to try his luck at Ascot in what is seen as an audacious move to take on the European Classic generation.
“This horse had to shortened back to a mile and the timing’s right,” McPeek said. “I’ve shocked the world before - I wouldn’t put them on the plane if I didn’t think they could win.”
An old Chinese proverb says that “the journey is the reward” – McPeek and the others are doubtless seeking just a bit more.
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