Royal Ascot, England // It is fair to say that the jury is out on Rizeena.
Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook’s filly racked up a huge reputation last season as one of Europe’s leading juveniles, but her standing suffered a significant hit in May when she finished down the field in the English 1,000 Guineas in her first start as a three year old.
She then missed the Irish 1,000 Guineas after experiencing a bleeding nose.
Today’s Coronation Stakes is the biggest stage of all on which to re-establish her credentials, and it was where she announced herself 12 months ago, when she won the Queen Mary Stakes.
Without Miss France, the English 1,000 Guineas winner, and Marvellous, who won the Irish equivalent, the Coronation is there for the taking.
Troubled preparations for any elite sporting event can often be overblown, and trainer Clive Brittain has played down the seriousness of Rizeena’s affliction.
“It was only a minor trickle [of blood], but we had her scoped and it was almost 100 per cent clean,” he said.
“There was a bit of colour there, but it hasn’t developed into anything serious and I’m very happy with her.
“She’s all set to go and she’s in very good form, so we are looking for her to bounce back to her best.”
Rizeena, who will be ridden by Ryan Moore, faces 11 rivals, including Tapestry, who is similarly looking to get her career back on the right path after finishing last at Newmarket. Her task has been made significantly easier by yesterday’s events.
Tapestry is trained by Aidan O’Brien, whose horses had run poorly until Thursday, when the sequence came to an abrupt halt.
Leading Light edged out Queen Elizabeth's Estimate during a pulsating finish to the feature race of the five-day meeting at Ascot Racecourse. For good measure, the Ballydoyle trainer also won the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes with Bracelet.
For almost 400 metres, Leading Light, Estimate and outsider Missunited were locked together before Joseph O’Brien eked out just enough to win the race by a neck.
It is custom for Queen Elizabeth to hand out the trophy to the winner.
“We are sorry the Queen’s filly was second,” Aidan O’Brien said. “We had a tough young colt, and he just found that little bit at the end.”
It was a brave attempt by Estimate to defend her crown after she suffered an interrupted lead-in due to a muscle problem that prevented her from undergoing a prep run.
“It was a great run, and I’m very proud of her,” trainer Sir Michael Stoute said.
“It has been a great team effort back at home to get her back on the track after so long, but she’s made it easy for us and she’s a very brave filly.”
Last year, television pictures were broadcast around the world as the face of the Queen lit up at her 22nd Royal Ascot success, and the monarch was graceful in defeat, according to her racing manager.
“It was tremendous and the Queen got such pleasure out of it,” John Warren said.
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