Byword is king in Prince Of Wales’s Stakes
The French tricolour was flying high over Ascot for a second day after Byword won the Group One Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
André Fabre is not a regular at Ascot but when he does come it is not for a social and his jockey, Maxime Guyon, is obviously a quick learner. The 21-year-old, regarded as the next hot property in French racing, was having his first ride at Royal Ascot but judged his tactics like a veteran on Byword.
Tazeez set the pace from the stalls, tracked by the German runner, Wiener Waltzer, and Debussy. Behind them Guyon ensured that Byword was in the perfect position to challenge. He was never further back than fourth and his jockey waited until halfway down the home straight before he switched wide to make his run. Further back Tom Queally, riding Henry Cecil’s Twice Over, was not finding it so easy, as he was blocked when making a run early in the home straight.
Tazeez was not stopping and Byword took a few strides to get started. The colt, racing on ground that was probably faster than any he had encountered in France, seemed to hang fire but then came clear and had enough in hand to hold off the late challenge of Twice Over to win by a half-length, with Tazeez holding on for third. The result was a one-two for owner Prince Khalid Abdullah.
Fabre, who won this race with Manduro in 2007, said: “The horse had the ability to win the race. I was a bit worried about the inexperienced jockey but he had a perfect ride – clear, without any bumps and I knew the horse was good enough to win the race.”
The victory of Byword matched the success of France’s star mare, Goldikova, in the Group One Queen Anne Stakes on the first day of the meeting. The pair met in the Prix D’Ispahan at Longchamp last month, when Goldikova won by a half-length, but Fabre did not rule out a possible rematch over a mile.
“He’s matured now. At three he got a bit sick with a virus and now I think he came to himself. He’s a horse who could go for the big mile competitions as well – he won’t go further than a mile-and-a-quarter I think,” he said. “We will look at something like the Prix Jacques le Marois for him. We will discuss the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with the Prince but I think that is only a remote possibility. There is a question mark with his stamina and he needs good ground as well. We have to run in Group Ones and I think it’s likely that he will go back to a mile.”
Guyon is clearly a jockey who will go far and Fabre said: “He has nerve and he’s young, which is always an advantage. He’s been an apprentice at home, he knows the horses well, he knows what we want and he doesn’t use the whip a lot which I like.
“I was impressed with his ride, he rode a beautiful race. It’s a double celebration for me, not only because of the jockey but because the winner is by Peintre Celebre as well.”
Speaking through an interpreter, Guyon said: “I’m absolutely delighted that I was given the opportunity by Mr Fabre to ride her today at Royal Ascot. I never thought I would get the chance to ride at Royal Ascot this afternoon and I cannot thank my trainer enough for trusting me. Everything went perfectly and I’m delighted. I was not too nervous before the race but I was obviously a little apprehensive riding here for the first time. I wasn’t given precise orders but was just told to get him in a good position, which I managed, and we had a good run.
Cecil was left ruing the run that Twice Over got, but did not blame his jockey. “He ran very well, but he couldn’t get out,” he said. “He got locked in and too far back - he made a lot of ground up and ran super, but he didn’t get there. We wanted to be handier and it was such a mess-up because he couldn’t get the position he wanted and was taken back [when the runners bunched after a couple of furlongs]. I hope he’ll go back to the Champion Stakes, but it is up to the Prince.”
As Prince Khalid’s racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, was left somewhere in the middle, celebrating with one camp and commiserating with the other. “It’s especially exciting because the first two were home-breds whose families go back several generations. Ascot is such an important venue for world racing and Prince Khalid likes to run his best horses in the best races. As for the future it might be difficult to split the first and second but we will look at the programme book.”
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