Royal Ascot 2011 - Queen Alexandra Stakes won by Swingkeel, Ted Durcan guides him to victory
Last year’s third place in the Queen Alexandra Stakes did not seem to go down well, both for the trainer, John Dunlop, and, his six-year old chestnut gelding, Swingkeel, as they wrapped up the last race of the Royal Ascot meeting.
Ted Durcan, who was Swingkeel’s mount, won his last major race, when he swept the Group One Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes back in 2009. This year Ted Durcan has had 146 runs and managed 19 wins out of them with a 13% success rate. Winning the Queen
Alexandra Stakes will surely add confidence in his ability to guide horses to big wins.
The flat horse race for thoroughbreds is over a distance of 2 miles and 5 and a half furlongs 4,370 meters, and, it features thoroughbreds of 4-years of age and above. The race is the longest race in the flat horse racing calendar and it needed some true
stamina to overcome the distance let alone be victorious on the long stretch.
Horses in top form were likely to stride down the course and at the same time stamina, which was of major significance, especially on long tracks such as the one the Queen Alexandra Stakes is run on.
Among such horses was Overturn, who looked likely to win the bid, for the Royal Ascot glory in the Queen Alexandra Stakes. Overturn was among the favourites because the seven-year old had an ample amount of success in the year 2010 when he bagged various
hurdle campaigns, the Galway Hurdle and so on.
The summer showpiece meeting was expected to be more exciting with Overturn’s inclusion, the champion of the Chester Cup, had his eyes set on the Royal Ascot.
On the other hand, Swingkeel, wasn’t expected to put on a cool show, standing in a star line up he seemed to be a long shot. But under Ted Durcan, who produced an awesome show while riding, the chestnut gelding looked to be a horse possessed and he made
it to the finish before all the favourites.
Swingkeel, who also won the Ffos Las, had a little problem in the beginning and wasn’t considered to be among the favourites to cover the distance. But at Ffos Las he proved every one wrong, winning the distance of 3 miles.
Swingkeel was tossed around a little bit when he was sent to Nigel Twiston-Davies for work out sessions and preparations for the Royal Ascot, which proved to be a race winning decision. After he came back to trainer John Dunlop, who thought he was ready,
for the massive distance at the final race of Queen Alexandra Stakes, Swingkeel did not disappoint.
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