Prince Of Johanne, a close winner in Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot
Prince Of Johanne’s victory in the Royal Hunt Cup was one of the major upsets on the second day of Royal Ascot Meeting. On a good surface, Tom Tate’s charge performed brilliantly from start to end, sealing the top rank by ½ a length.
In pursue of the winning prize worth £77,812.50, two and a half dozen speedy runners took part in the class 2 meeting. In the hands of John Fahy, the 16-1 chance was not impressive in the early stages of the race. The six-year-old held up in the midfield,
but quickly recovered to make himself prominent.
Despite plenty of quality runners around, the dashing gelding felt no pressure and kept running smoothly. His fantastic work helped him establish his dominance a length before the winning post.
Despite edging right inside the final furlong, David Storey’s gelding did not lose his advantage. Excellent Guest appeared with a serious challenge in the final moments, but the champion runner played his cards quite nicely, not letting anyone spoil his
party.
On the other hand, George Margarson’s five-year-old ran far better than his seasonal debut here last month. He did well to ensure the runner-up spot by ¾ a length. Don't Call Me was lucky to end up among top-3, as Field of Dream missed the rank only by a
neck’s distance.
Dimension’s supporters would have been seriously disappointed with his below par effort. The 9-2 favourite stayed on one pace in the final 100 yards and as a result, finished eighth on the table.
Enormously delighted over his trainee’s fascinating show, Tate said: "I only train good horses! He's a grand horse and he likes the mile and fast ground. I read in the newspaper that it was 1949 the last time a horse won the Cambridgeshire and this race,
so that was a bit of a dampener for our hopes! John rides him well and he's a very good rider."
Fahy added: "Last season I was watching these races at home, so it means an awful lot to actually get a winner here. He's given me a Cambridgeshire winner and now a Royal Ascot winner.”
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