Royal Ascot 2011 - Julienas wins Royal Hunt Cup under Eddie Ahern, Swinburn's first Ascot win
The fourth race at this year’s Royal Ascot Day Two, the Royal Hunt Cup, kicked off at 16:25 (GMT) on Wednesday 15 June, 2011.
This one-mile-long heritage handicap was contested by a large field this year, including names such as, 7-1 favourite, Dance and Dance, last year’s winner, Invisible Man, and, Walter Swinburn trained, Julienas.
Despite the odds in Dance and Dance’s favour, 12-1 Julienas ousted him and won, adding to jockey Eddie Ahern’s handicap wins. Despite finishing third twice at Sandown, Julienas, who was in good form, ran well.
Julienas was travelling just behind the pace and when the opportunity appeared Ahern grabbed it and moved towards the stands' side rail. Dance and Dance ran well too, maneuvering his way around the field but had to be switched as he was short on space, and went on to finish in second place.
Four horses battled it out on the far rail and another two down the centre, but evidently the stands’ side rail was where the real battle took place. The highlight of the race was at the moment when jockey, Ryan Moore, tried to guide Dance and Dance on the inside next to the rail but Eddie Ahern moved across to close the one length gap and Dance and Dance had to shift.
This invoked a steward’s inquiry but the results were unchanged with Julienas being declared the winner, giving trainer, Walter Swinburn, his first Royal Ascot victory. Although, he won by half a length, Julienas truly deserved it in Swinburn’s opinion.
Last year’s winner 20-1 Invisible Man under jockey, Frankie Dettori, finished third, while 33-1 Pendragon and 14-1 Eton Forever stood fourth and fifth respectively. First time winner, Swinburn, was clearly overjoyed after the race when he said:
"When you win as a trainer it means so much more. Its months of hard work and it means so much to everyone…It's nice when a plan like that comes together. I was fortunate to ride many winners here, but to be standing here as the trainer of my first winner is up there with the best days of my racing career".
Even though Jockey Eddie Ahern received a two day ban he expressed his happiness over the victory by saying that the stewards decided to let the best horse win.
However, runner-up Dance and Dance’s trainer, Ed Vaughan, was going through an emotional outburst of a different sort when he said, "Ryan said he got checked, and it definitely cost him the race. So you don't know whether to laugh or cry really".
Despite the loss, Invisible Man’s trainer, Saeed bin Suroor, seemed satisfied with his performance especially given that he had disappointed greatly previously with his performance at Dubai.
So while the race brought laurels for winner, Julienas, for runner-up, Dance and Dance, and, his supporters, it was definitely not the best of days. Here’s hoping Dance and Dance soon recovers, while Julienas’s winning spree continues.
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