Joseph O’Brien was still on the winner’s premises talking to reporters after winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes with State Of Rest on Wednesday as the jockeys left for the next race. “Thank you, Mickaël,” he said as Mickaël Barzalona offered his congratulations, a reminder that O’Brien himself was in the weighing room and competing against many of this week’s runners as recently as June 2015.
O’Brien won six winners at Royal Ascot during his brief years as a stable jockey to his father, Aidan, including So You Think in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes a decade ago and Leading Light in the Gold Cup, the most meeting history. in 2014. But his successes since he hung up his boots to get his coaching card have been amazing. Two Melbourne Cup winners in four years between 2017 and 2020, an Irish derby and a St Leger have been among the highlights, and O’Brien is still 11 months away from his 30th birthday.
State Of Rest’s 5-1 win here on Wednesday was another milestone, as O’Brien is the first person to mount and coach a Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot since the Pattern system was introduced on 1971. This was also his first win in the match, after a series of 43 losers dating back to 2016, and came thanks to a pre-race plan to “uncomplicate things”, according to Shane Crosse, the winner’s 20-year-old jockey, who executed to perfection.
Shahryar, trying to become Japan’s first royal winner, has made the race in the past, but Cristian Demuro was happy to take the lead in State Of Rest as Crosse set a steady pace for the first three quarters. of a mile. Demuro seemed willing to take the lead on the straight, but when Crosse asked State Of Rest to lengthen, he soon opened up an advantage that Shahryar was clearly struggling to close. Bay Bridge, the 10-11 favorite, was next to have a crack, but he also didn’t find the acceleration to drag State Of Rest into a battle and Crosse still had a one-line advantage on the line.
“We thought that if we could lead the race, we had a very good chance of winning,” O’Brien said. “After a stadium we were very comfortable with how the race was being set up and the horse was very hard and genuine, as always.
“Shane gave the horse the most wonderful ride. He’s a really cool customer and he proved it today. We really wanted to lead, he’s tough and he loves to fight.
Joseph O’Brien after winning the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes. Photo: Ian Headington / racingfotos.com/Shutterstock
“Sorry [pressure] a little more as a coach, but maybe it’s because I’m growing up. We put on a few horses [at Royal Ascot] over the years and we knew a winner would finally come, but he is very special in a race like the Prince of Wales. You lose every day of the week. This game is about losing and you have to learn from it and regroup and come back. “
Aidan O’Brien stood out for the meeting when Little Big Bear, the 6-5 favorite, beat Rocket Rodney at Windsor Castle Stakes while Karl Burke’s Dramatized did the other speed test on the card. for youngsters, the Queen Mary Stakes, in stunning fashion under Danny Tudhope.
Tudhope always traveled very well behind a strong pace and shot Dramatized to a decisive advantage in addition to a furlong. The jockey dropped the whip shortly afterwards, but made no difference, as the winner came home for almost two lengths.
Quick guide
Thursday tips from Greg Wood
Show
Chelmsford 1.30 True Statesman 2.05 Expert opinion 2.40 Atlantis Blue 3.15 Tarhib 3.50 Fox Champion 4.30 Autonomy 5.05 Respect mark
Ripon 1.45 Calcutta Dream 2.15 Dare To Hope 2.50 Cobra Kai 3.25 Urban War 4.00 Red 4.40 Gullane One 5.10 Appear
Ascot 2.30 Pillow Talk 3.05 Israr 3.40 Magical Lagoon 4.20 Kyprios5.00 Jimi Hendrix (migesta) 5.35 Claymore 6.10 Ouzo (nb)
Lingfield Park 4.50 Bungledupinblue 5.20 Tarlo 5.50 Bowling Russian6.25 Bernard Spierpoint 7.00 Mcqueen 7.30 The Covex Kid 8.00 Amzaan
Ffos Las 5.25 Fat Sam 6.00 Court Royale 6.35 Maliboo 7.10 Ballinsker 7.40 Watergrange Jack 8.10 Galileo Silver 8.40 Zucayan
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There was much less for Irad Ortiz Jr. to celebrate later, as the American jockey’s difficult week continued with a five-day ban from commissioners for being careless aboard Wesley Ward’s Love Reigns. Officers found that Ortiz had allowed Love Reigns to deflect with his left hand in the early stages, causing a chain reaction of interference to four of his rivals.
Ortiz, who replaced Frankie Dettori as Ward’s rider at this year’s meeting, looked back aboard Golden Pal at the stops before King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday and missed the break, leaving his horse with a task. almost impossible to recover. He has two more attractions for Ward at the meeting, aboard Ruthin at the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap and Campanelle at Saturday’s function, the Platinum Jubilee Stakes.