Royal Ascot is one of international racing’s most iconic meetings and on Tuesday it duly lived up to its billing with a wonderful day’s racing crowned by supreme performances from Nature Strip and Baaeed.
Nature Strip, who was already rated the world’s best sprinter in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, demonstrated his superiority with an amazing display in the G1 King’s Stand Stakes. The official winning margin was four and a half lengths and it could have been greater had James McDonald asked his mount for more.
Nature Strip’s time of 58.25s was well inside standard but outside the course record of fellow Australian Miss Andretti, who clocked 57.44s in 2007 and was yet another triumph for trainer Chris Waller, who will combine with James McDonald and Home Affairs in Saturday’s G1 Platinum Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
On a day when racing was celebrated in brilliant weather, it was fitting that Baaeed – who is rated No 1 in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, one place higher than Nature Strip – should open the meeting with victory in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes for Jim Crowley and William Haggas to maintain his perfect record with eight wins from as many starts.
After two emphatic G1 wins by Nature Strip and Baaeed, Coroebus claimed the G1 St James’s Palace Stakes in a dramatic finish for William Buick and Charlie Appleby to confirm his high standing among the current three-year-old generation.
With quality racing on offer, World Pool turnover in Hong Kong reached HK$330 million which is the fifth-highest World Pool turnover achieved on a single day’s racing behind 2021 King’s Stand Stakes Day, which attracted $340 million.
The liquidity created by a global pool is remarkable, providing greater odds certainty and better value. Regarding Nature Strip, the World Pool win dividend of $3.25 in Australia for customers who bet through Tabcorp Victoria and its partners in other Australian States and New Zealand compared to dividends of $2.30 and $2.20, respectively, for those patrons who bet through Tabcorp New South Wales and Tabcorp Queensland, who did not participate in the World Pool.
Based on the Nature Strip example, it is clear the size of the World Pool – with customers taking betting from several different countries – nullifies parochialism to deliver a better return for all customers.
Action continues at the Royal meeting on Wednesday night with the staging of the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2003m), one of Europe’s premier 10-furlong contests. Carded as the third race at 10.40pm (Hong Kong time), this year’s contest features a select field of five runners including Shahryar, who will attempt to become Japan’s first Royal Ascot winner.
Winner of the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic (2410m) at Meydan in March and the Japanese Derby (2400m) last year, Shahryar (Cristian Demuro) takes on Sir Michael Stoute’s Bay Bridge, who will be ridden by Ryan Moore as he chases his sixth successive win.
WS Cox Plate (2040m) winner State Of Rest (Shane Crosse) bids for his fourth G1 in a fourth different country for Joseph O’Brien after previously winning at the highest level in France, the United States and Australia.
Lord North (Frankie Dettori) won the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes in 2020 and has returned to top form this preparation for John & Thady Gosden, dead-heating with Panthalassa in the G1 Dubai Turf (1800m) at Meydan in March.
The field is completed by French mare Grand Glory (Mickael Barzalona), a last-start winner of the G3 Prix Allez France LONGINES (2000m) at Paris Longchamps.
With Royal Ascot taking centre stage this week, there is no Happy Valley meeting on Wednesday night but Hong Kong racing resumes on Sunday (19 June) with a quality meeting headlined by the G3 Premier Cup Handicap (1400m), which includes the entry of G1 winner Stronger, and the G3 Premier Plate Handicap (1800m).
Few Hong Kong meetings pass without milestones or significant statistical achievements and last Sunday’s Sha Tin meeting was no exception with all 11 races being won by home-grown trainers. Given the presence of John Size, David Hayes and Douglas Whyte among several other excellent expatriate trainers in a fiercely competitive arena, it was a deserved accomplishment for the local brigade to sweep the board.
Frankie Lor, Ricky Yiu and Benno Yung led the way with doubles, while Tony Cruz, Chris So, Me Tsui, Michael Chang and Peter Ho all chimed in on a day when Frankie took a five-win lead over John in the trainers’ championship.
With nine meetings left in the season, Frankie leads 83-78 but, as we know from experience, it is pure folly to write off John until it is mathematically impossible for the 11-time champion to win again.
Similarly, the jockeys’ championship features a five-win buffer with Joao Moreira leading Zac Purton 126-121, while Matthew Chadwick (45) holds sway in the Tony Cruz Award for the leading home-grown jockey over Vincent Ho (43) and Derek Leung (40), who boosted his chances with a double on Sunday along with Jerry Chau (29).
Comment
