Joviality stuns her rivals in Windsor Forest Stakes at Royal Ascot
Joviality was not among the most preferred runners, but the spectators at Royal Ascot saw her stealing the show brilliantly on Wednesday, June 20th. After a hard battle, John Gosden’s charge managed to secure the top spot by a neck’s distance.
Sir Henry Cecil’s five-year-old, Chachamaidee, was unlucky to finish second, as she missed the gold by a whisker. Lay Time performed way better than her previous outing at Epsom and grabbed the third position by one and a quarter lengths.
Barefoot Lady finished fourth whereas the fifth rank belonged to Beatrice Aurore, who fell short only by a head’s distance. It was a terrible day for Emulous, who was declared favourite ahead of the race.
The 11-4 favourite got weakened just the before the final furlong and as a result, it was almost impossible for her to make an impression. Consequently, the D. K. Weld-trained ended up seventh on the table.
On the other hand, Joviality was pretty impressive right from the start. She raced keenly and tracked the leaders quite nicely in the middle hours. Her hard work paid off, when she succeeded in establishing her dominance a couple of furlongs before the wire.
She was joined by the runner-up inside the final furlong, but luck stayed on her side. As a result, the champion filly outsmarted Chachamaidee by a neck’s distance. Under Tom Queally, Sir Henry Cecil’s mare challenged Joviality’s supremacy, but could not grab the glory.
Gosden was delighted over his charge’s fantastic victory, but did not take the credit away from the Sir Henry Cecil-trained filly, who kept the winner under pressure all the way through.
"It's probably a little short for her the mile and she didn't handle Epsom. We had to wait for her to come right in June but she's got a lot of tenacity and I really respect Henry's filly, who's very fast,” said Gosden.
"But I thought if we can be in the right place and she has to come to us, we might outstay her. It was a thrilling performance. She wants a mile to a mile and a quarter so there are some nice races for her like the Nassau Stakes and the Prix de l'Opera," he added.
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