The fourth day of Royal Ascot featured two Group I races with a first G1 winner for former New Zealand shuttler Charm Spirit and a third G1 win for a champion filly by Siyouni.
The Group I Commonwealth Cup (6f) is a sprint race for three year-olds and produced the first Group I winner for former Windsor Park Stud shuttler Charm Spirit when Shaquille beat the favourite Little Big Bear (No Nay Never) to win by more than a length.
The Julie Camacho trained colt overcame a poor start to surge home and win for Oisin Murphy taking his overall record to six wins from seven starts.
“I thought, 'well that's it, he's blown his chance' [after the slow start]. I've just watched it live and would like to go back and watch it properly -Shaquille was good, wasn't he? It's massive. We never thought we would train a Group I winner, not at Royal Ascot anyway, and for Martin [Hughes, owner] it's massive. When he started to run, I thought, 'he's going to be placed' and that he would run a big race, but then I thought 'oh my God, he's going to win'. I'm a bit speechless,” said Julie Camacho.
Shaquille was retained to race by his breeder Martin Hughes and is the first winner for unraced Galileo mare Magic, a sister to stakes-winner Birch Grove from fast Group II winning sprinter Danehurst.
Shaquille is the first Group I winner among 16 stakes-winners by Charm Spirit, a Group I winning son of Invincible Spirit that now stands in France at Haras du Logis Saint Germain for 5,000 euros.
The Group I Coronation Stakes (1m) for three year-old fillies delivered another Group I winner at the meeting for champion French stallion Siyouni with his star filly Tahiyra backing up the form of her last start win in the Irish 1000 Guineas.
A homebred for the Aga Khan trained by Dermot Weld, Tahiyra was ridden by Chris Hayes and won by a length over Kingman filly Remarquee with third place going to another Kingman filly Sounds of Heaven, part-owned by her Australian breeder John Camilleri.
Tahiyra has had five starts for four wins and a second with three of those wins in G1 races. She is a half-sister to Champion Mare Tarnawa, a triple Group I winner from stakes-winning Cape Cross mare Tarana.
Dermot Weld also trained Tarnawa, who was by Shamardal.
“They’re different. Tarnawa was unbelievably tough and stayed very well. She won the Breeders' Cup Turf and those two very good Group 1s in France for me. She just got beat in the Arc on ground that was just too dead for her on the day,” Weld said.
“She was a brilliant racemare and this one is equally good. They’re different sorts, this one has more pace. Tarnawa was brilliant and but for that very heavy day and being drawn in the wrong place, she’d have won the Arc.
“I enjoy training these fillies so much. I know the families and I do my best training them.”
The Group II Albany Stakes (6f) for two year-old fillies gave Frankie Dettori another stakes-winner aboard the Donnacha O’Brien trained Porta Fortuna.
The talented Caravaggio filly won by a length and has now won three out of three with this race her second stakes success.
Porta Fortuna is one of 13 stakes-winners for Caravaggio and is the first winner for Too Precious, a winning full sister to high class middle distance horse Numerian, a Group winner and Group I placed in Australia for the Annabel Neasham stable.
