More action and excitement at Royal Ascot on Day 2 with a Godolphin late bloomer winning his first G1, JMac in the winners circle on a speedy squib turned miler and 2YO stakes races produced a blueblood filly and a bargain 9000 guinea colt, whose 'Havana' sireline is coming to Australia this spring.
The Group I Prince of Wales’s Stakes (1m2f) was the highlight on Day 2 with Godolphin claiming victory with progressive four year-old Night of Thunder stallion Ombudsman, while race favourite Los Angeles, last year’s Irish Derby winner, did not find conditions to suit and failed to place.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden and ridden brilliantly by William Buick, Ombudsman has been a late bloomer for Godolphin having not raced at two.
He won all four starts at three ending with a Listed victory and a Group III success at Longchamp before returning at four to lose his unbeaten tag when second in the Group III Brigadier Gerard Stakes last month.
With that run to bring him on, Ombudsman produced a brilliant performance in his first G1 to cruise clear and win by two lengths over G1 winner Anmaat taking his overall record to five wins and a second from six starts.
“Sheikh Mohammed is without doubt the nicest and easiest owner I've ever trained for, he says 'do what we think is right',” said John Gosden.
“We ran Ombudsman a little tenderly last year and he's come back this year and ran a super race in the Brigadier Gerard - I think the winner (Almaqam)of that is exceptional - we were giving 3lbs, he got first run, but I think if the ground had been there, he'd have been with us today.
“But he's a special horse and it's just a question of an owner giving you the time to let them mature and get there, I never get pushed, he'll never be the horse he was unless I had such a patient owner.”
Ombudsman was purchased for 340,000 guineas from the Tattersalls October Book 2 Yearling Sale for Godolphin by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock.
He is the best of two winners from winning Dansili mare Syndicate, a full sister to Group III winner Runnymede and stakes-winner Stipulation.
Ombudsman is the eighth G1 winner and fourth this year for Dubawi’s champion son Night of Thunder, who stands at Darley at a fee of €150,000.
Night of Thunder shuttled to Australia for one season in 2016 and produced seven stakes-winners from that lone crop of foals headed by G1 Queensland Derby winner Kukeracha.
The Group II Duke of Cambridge Stakes (1m) for the mares produced another winner for John and Thady Gosden with the Wathnan Racing owned Crimson Advocate scoring for James McDonald.
A brilliant winner of the Group III Queen Mary Stakes at this meeting as a juvenile, four year-old Crimson Advocate has found a new lease on life this year since being switched to the Gosden’s and trained to run a mile.
She zoomed home from last to win by a length and three-quarters and has won five of nine starts with G1 races on the radar for later this year.
“I told James [McDonald] to settle Crimson Advocate where you're happy. This filly won a Queen Mary here two years ago and she's gone and got the mile better than the rest of them. Put it this way, we expected her to run well but not that well,” said John Gosden.
Crimson Advocate has a full US pedigree being by Uncle Mo’s Group I winning son Nyquist from stakes-winner Citizen Advocate, a half-sister to the dam of G1 winner and Champion US 2YO Filly Caledonia Road and Group III winner Officiating (USA), who is in Australia at Aquis in Queensland and covered 111 mares in his first season last year.
Officiating stands at a fee of $8,800. Click to see more about him.
There were two stakes races for juveniles with the Group II Queen Mary Stakes (5f) this year going to the Coolmore team with the Aidan O’Brien trained No Nay Never filly True Love winning for Ryan Moore.
Second at her first two runs in Ireland, most recently when beaten by Coventry Stakes winner Gstaad, she was well seasoned and won by a length and a quarter as favourite.
A homebred for Coolmore, True Love is the third stakes-winner from three foals to race from stakes-winning Fastnet Rock mare Alluringly and the other two are both Group II winners Truly Enchanting and Lily Pond.
It’s a superb pedigree with third dam All Too Beautiful, a Group III winning sister to Galileo and half-sister to Sea the Stars with this branch of the Urban Sea family producing Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet and last week’s Listed ATC Winer Cup winner Sir Lucan.
True Love is the 73rd stakes-winner for No Nay Never, who shuttled to Coolmore Australia for four seasons with his best Aussie bred offspring the Group I winner Madame Pommery.
The Listed Windsor Castle Stakes (5f) was won by bargain priced colt Havana Hurricane, who was bought as a yearling for just 9000 guineas by Highflyer / Eve Johnson Houghton at the Tatts Sommerville Yearling Sale.
A son of Teofilo stallion Havana Gold, Havana Hurricane is a natural runner and had a win and a second coming into this race and proved too good in scoring by a length and a half over Pinatubo colt Dickensian with the third and fourth horses Azizam and Rogue Legend sired by Havana Grey, a son of Havana Gold.
This fact is relevant as the Havana sireline is coming to Australia this spring with Arrowfield Stud to stand 2023 Euro Champion 2YO Colt Vandeek, who is by Havana Grey.
Trained by Eve Johnson Houghton, Havana Hurricane is the 17th stakes-winner for Havana Gold and is the first winner for Spitfire Limited, a placed Excelebration mare that goes back to a great Euro female family that has produced countless stakes-winners including Royal Ascot G1 St James’s Palace Stakes winner Zafeen.
