Ombudsman’s class claims back-to-back Prince of Wales’s Stakes
John Gosden hailed Ombudsman’s victory in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes as “one of the great performances” as his star made it back-to-back wins in the Royal Ascot feature.
Ombudsman stamped his authority on Royal Ascot with a scintillating victory in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, dominating day two of the meeting with a brilliant performance.
The five-year-old, trained by John and Thady Gosden and ridden by William Buick, produced a devastating late surge to retain his crown in the Group One feature, pulling four lengths clear of a high-class field headed by Minnie Hauk and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Daryz.
Held up off a strong early pace, Ombudsman was delivered into contention in the home straight before unleashing a powerful finish.
“I thought they were going to have to go a bit to catch Devil’s Advocate with a furlong to go but Ombudsman has a phenomenal turn of foot, great acceleration for a mile-and-a-quarter horse, and he just showed that class – it was quite something for him to come away from a field like that,” Gosden, winning the race for the seventh time, told media after the race
“Minnie Hauk ran great, so too did the Arc winner Daryz, while the horse who won in Ireland (Almaqam) might not have run his race today because he’d usually be in the shake-up, but overall I thought it was one of the great performances of Ombudsman’s career. He’s strong and powerful.”
Buick, recording his latest success at the Royal meeting, was equally emphatic. “What he did there was mind-blowing,” he said. “He’s got an electric turn of foot.”
The victory made Ombudsman only the fourth horse to win back-to-back runnings of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and the first to achieve the feat since 1995.
Earlier on the card, Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore combined to take the opening Queen Mary Stakes with Victorious, the unbeaten filly producing a strong finish to edge closer to a century of winners for her trainer at the Royal meeting.
The Queen’s Vase went to Limestone, trained by Joseph O’Brien and ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle, who was produced with a well-timed run to prevail in a tight finish.
In the Duke of Cambridge Stakes, Blue Bolt, trained by Andrew Balding, justified favouritism with a decisive late surge. The available reports confirm the trainer but do not specify the winning jockey.
The Kensington Palace Stakes was won by William Haggas and Tom Marquand with Alobayyah, in a race where Zac Lloyd has his first Royal Ascot ride aboard Unassuming, who finished 17th in the 24-strong field.
The ultra-competitive Royal Hunt Cup was captured by Rogue Diplomat, while the day concluded with another notable success for Joseph O’Brien, who saddled King Of Cloughan, ridden by Billy Loughnane, to land the Windsor Castle Stakes.
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