Racing
Royal Ascot Series 2023: Five Memorable Moments
Black Caviar winning the Diamond Jubilee
In 2012, Royal Ascot fans were treated to seeing a special mare take to the stage by the name of Black Caviar, who arrived at the Berkshire venue with a perfect record of 21 wins from 21 starts having conquered pretty much everything on home soil and was given the chance prove her capabilities in the UK when she contested in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
With 11 Group 1 wins to her name and a host of other big-race victories in Group-race events, she was sent off 1-6 favourite to extend her unbeaten record. Not everything went to plan though and she was fondly remembered for not only her memorable success but for also nearly throwing the race away when her rider nearly mistook the winning post, which would have been a major talking point in years to come.
Everything seemingly went according to plan for most part of the race, as she travelled beautifully and turned on the turbo over a furlong out as she moved a couple of lengths clear of the field. However, jockey Luke Nolan eased her up a shade too soon, allowing Moonlight Cloud to thrust near the end but she found extra near the line to marginally justify favouritism. A huge sigh of relief to say the least when she was announced the winner.
Frankel too good in the Queen Anne
In the same week as Black Caviar, we witnessed one of the most impressive performances in the history of Royal Ascot as Frankel was simply mesmerising in the Queen Anne Stakes.
After scrambling home in the St James’s Palace Stakes a year earlier when Tom Queally committed the champion too soon, he dominated his rivals in this contest by 11 lengths on the bridle.
It was a unique performance, as the race was littered with quality and he won without breaking sweat. A career that saw him go undefeated, this win was just one of many highlights that will never be forgotten.
The way he made Excelebration look like an average horse, who was far from that, was just simply unbelievable. This has to go one as of, if not my favourite moment at Royal Ascot. Everything about Frankel’s win was just flawless in every aspect.
Breathtaking Kingman in the St James’s Palace
The John Gosden-trained Kingman produced a scintillating display in the St James’s Palace Stakes in 2014 and is another memorable moment at the Royal Meeting, as the turn of foot he displayed in seeing off a quality field was also one of the best performances I have seen at the fixture.
Confidently ridden by James Doyle, he tracked the pacesetters, notably Night Of Thunder, who marginally denied him in the 2000 Guineas, and as soon as the Doyler pressed the button, the acceleration was immediate, as he quickened up in tremendous fashion to win comfortably by over two lengths.
Real World blitzes the field in the Royal Hunt Cup
This one is probably a bit of a biased choice, as I tipped him for the race itself at 33/1 but even so, Real World turned in one of the most impressive winning performances of a handicap at Royal Ascot and it came in the extremely-competitive Royal Hunt Cup.
The Saeed bin Suroor-trained four-year-old at the time, was encountering turf for the first time having raced exclusively on the all-weather beforehand and tracked the pacesetter on the far rail as the 30 runners split into two groups over the straight mile.
With two and a half furlongs to go, Marco Ghiani sent him to the front and he quickened right away from the field to score by five lengths and in turn, provided his Italian jockey with a first Royal Ascot victory. I don’t think we will see such an impressive winner of this competitive race for a long time.
Zhui Feng all-the-way in the Royal Hunt Cup
Sticking with the Royal Hunt Cup, another winner who I had also tipped at 33/1 when he won the race was Zhui Feng and it’s not because I tipped him that he makes the list but more of the fact he did something that is primarily difficult to do in this prestigious handicap event.
What he did was win in the hardest possible way from the front, seeing off all 28 rivals under an excellent ride from Martin Dwyer for trainer Amanda Perrett. He led the field at a merry dance, bagging the rail from a high draw, and while Blair House challenged him late on, he stayed on strongly to win by half-a-length.
He might not be the classiest horse to make this list but his career-best success in this race was one of the bravest front-running performances at the Royal Meeting I have seen. He became an Ascot course-specialist in his career and has to be given some recognition for his achievement in this specific contest.
