ASCOT // It is a mark of how highly the ruling family of Dubai view Royal Ascot that four of the nine runners in the feature race here Friday afternoon are owned by the Al Maktoums.
The Godolphin red cap for a third-string runner has not been necessary here this week, but in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes English 1,000 Guineas runner-up Lucida is joined by dual UAE Classic winner Local Time, and Sperry, an improving daughter of French Classic winner Shamardal.
As has been the thread here all week, each of the fillies will be saddled by different trainers, Jim Bolger will send out Lucida, Saeed bin Suroor is responsible for Local Time, and Sperry is handled by John Gosden.
Gosden runs two, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Yasmeen, who was second to Sperry last month in a Listed race at York, also takes her chance.
And yet despite the strength in numbers, there is a real danger the UAE-owned quartet could be beaten by either of Coolmore’s Found or the Aga Khan’s Ervedya.
Godolphin versus Coolmore has been an enduring thread for the last 20 years, but the emergence of Qatar’s Al Shaqab in the last few seasons has added to the weave.
On Tuesday Godolphin’s main hope in the Coventry Stakes was Bolger’s Round Two, but Buratino struck in the second-string white cap to deny Coolmore’s Air Force Blue.
Coolmore hit back two races later when Gleneagles was far too good for Charlie Appleby’s Latharnach. The Irish organisation went 2-0 up in the final race of the day when Aidan O’Brien’s Washington DC beat Bin Suroor’s Steady Pace into third.
Late on Wednesday Al Shaqab’s Osaila beat Godolphin’s Always Smile in the Sandringham Handicap.
It was just one of 30 races here, but with former long-standing Godolphin rider Frankie Dettori notching his 50th Royal Ascot winner in the race it was a significant defeat.
Al Shaqab and Godolphin duelled yesterday, too, when new acquisitions King Of Rooks and Log Out Island went through the first few furlongs of the Norfolk Stakes together, only to be trumped by Coolmore’s Waterloo Bridge at the death.
This Royal Ascot has been a landmark one, however, in that a new power is emerging. Wesley Ward will have had 10 runners across the five days when the dust settles tomorrow. The Coolmore-owned Acapulco was an impressive winner of the Queen Mary Stakes on Tuesday and Ward looks to have a real chance of winning the inaugural Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, a race for three-year-old sprinters.
The UAE are represented by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Adaay and Muhaarar, while Ahmad Abdulla Al Shaikh runs Ahlan Emarati.
Hootenanny’s performance in the Windsor Castle last year for Ward was a wonder to behold and he went on to win at the Breeders’ Cup. He has had a prep race in Keeneland, and Ward was once again bristling with confidence.
“Since he won the Breeders’ Cup last year, I’ve been pointing for this race,” Ward said.
“Every workout in the morning has been better than the last so I’m really looking forward to it.”
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