Invisible Man so clear in Royal Hunt Cup
A minute and 40 seconds before the starting stalls crashed open, the Royal Hunt Cup appeared to be as hard to fathom out as ever.
One minute and 40 seconds later it was patently obvious as Invisible Man came home a half-length clear of Riggins.
The 29 runners split into two groups from the stalls with the main group sticking to the far rail, led by St Moritz, Proponent and Fareer. A smaller group raced towards the stands’ rail, which was led by Dandy Boy but they were way off the pace as the main pack were the best part of five lengths clear at halfway.
But Invisible Man was living up to his name at that point. Frankie Dettori had decided to drop him in and, two furlongs out, he was much nearer last than first. Then Invisible Man weaved his way through the field to pass St Moritz inside the final furlong and hold Riggins with St Moritz staying on for third.
The draw at Ascot has become a major talking point in recent years and something of a moveable feast in terms of which strip of ground is favoured. However, this race made the far side by far the most cherished spot. The first four home were drawn 23, 22, 32 and 29 and the first home from a single-figure draw was Docofthebay, in 17th, from stall seven.
Saeed bin Surror had decided to run Invisible Man in first-time blinkers and Dettori then took a calculated gamble. "I took a chance. I dropped him out, I got him relaxed and when I looked up, with two furlongs to go, I had half of the field to pass. But he weaved his way through, he loved it and he got there in the end. He didn’t realise that he got there.
"You have to ride him that way and he got lucky today. He got all the gaps and we needed it. It’s nice at Royal Ascot to have a winner. It takes the pressure off – we’ve still got three days and we’ll have another couple. We’ve only had 10 races but you want to get on the board as quick as you can. I felt a lot of pressure but I’m on the board now."
The Hunt Cup can often be a stepping stone to bigger things and that is what Bin Suroor is working towards. "What I like about this horse is that he is a big strong horse who handles his races well and we can look at bigger races now," he said.
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