Everyone's
a Royal winner
There was Royal Ascot success for smaller-scale trainers, big teams and stallions standing at all fee levels, writes Amy Bennett
WHILE we’re well-versed in sentimentality during the winter months, it can often feel that the Flat season is so dominated by high-rolling big spenders that a little of the magic gets lost.
Not so Royal Ascot 2025 when smaller-scale breeders, trainers and stallions, who generally operate outside of the highest echelons, put their own stamp on the meeting.
The die was cast in favour of fairytale finishes right from the very start when Docklands punctured some mighty reputations to triumph in the opening Queen Anne Stakes (G1).
A first top-level winner for trainer Harry Eustace, the five-year-old Docklands seems to save his best for the royal Turf, having last scored in the Britannia Stakes in 2023, and finished second to Charyn in last year’s Queen Anne.
Bred by Richard Kent’s Mickley Stud, the entire is a son of Mickley resident Massaat, who stands for just £3,500, and out of the unraced Mark Of Esteem mare Icky Woo, who cost Kent just 9,000gns at the 2007 Tattersalls December Mares Sale.
Since then, the mare has delivered Ickymasho (Multiplex), a Group 3 winner at Keeneland on Turf, and Harbour Views (Le Havre), a stakes winner and Group 2-placed in Australia.
Docklands was sold for 18,000gns at Tattersalls as foal and cost only £16,000 the following year at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale when the auction took place in Newmarket due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Three days later, Eustace was back in the winners’ enclosure this time with Time For Sandals, who got the better of Arizona Blaze (Arizona) by a neck in the Commonwealth Cup (G1).
Although winless since breaking her maiden on debut at Kempton in June last year, the filly has been knocking on the door all season and stuck on well when racing almost alone on the far side.
Bred by Joe Foley’s Ballyhane Stud, the filly is another graduate of Tattersalls Ireland’s September Yearling Sale having cost €35,000 at the sale’s traditional Fairyhouse venue in 2023 when snapped up by David Appleton. A half-sister to three winners, Time Of Sandals is a breakthrough Group 1 winner for her young sire Sands Of Mali.
Time For Sandals
Time For Sandals
She is out of Days Of Summer (Bachelor Duke), who won on debut and finished a respectable ninth in Group 3 company at two. She is a
half-sister to the stakes winner Pharmacist (Machiavellian), whose progeny are led by the Group 1 winner and sire Red Rocks (Galileo), from a family that has served Ballylinch Stud well over the years.
Another Fairyhouse graduate to make the headlines was Cercene, who sprang a 33-1 surprise in the Coronation Stakes (G1) to give her trainer Joe Murphy a first winner at the highest level after 48 years with a trainer’s license.
The daughter of Australia – who also featured as broodmare sire of the Group 1 winner Lazzat later in the week – had been a good third in the Irish 1,000 Guineas (G1), but was visiting the winners’ enclosure for the first time since her maiden win last September.
Bred by China Horse Club International, she was purchased for €50,000 as a yearling at Fairyhouse.
A half-sister to the Brittania Stakes winner Perotto (New Bay), she is out of the maiden winner Tschierschen (Acclamation), a half-sister to the high-class juvenile Gallagher (Bahamian Bounty) and the Listed-placed Roodeye (Inchinor), dam of the top miler and young sire Mohaather (Showcasing).
The King Charles III Stakes (G1) served up another slice of storytelling as American Affair stayed on to win by a neck for Scottish trainer Jim Goldie.
The five-year-old gelding arrived at the meeting off the back of handicap wins at Musselburgh and York this season, and a recent fifth-place in the Temple Stakes (G2).
His victory gave his trainer and his sire, Bearstone Stud’s Washington DC, who also stands for the bargain fee of £3,500, their first top-level success.
Bred by John McGrandles, the gelding is out of Classy Anne, a daughter of Goldie’s smart sprinter Orientor. The mare has already produced Classy Al, a prolific sprint winner at Ayr, having won six times herself in minor company exclusively at the Scottish tracks.
As McGrandles said in the post-race interview, American Affair was likely the only horse at Royal Ascot with a Glaswegian postcode.
The owner-breeder did not hang around at the London-based racecourse enjoying the celebrations – he and his wife had to get back home as they were due to show sheep the very next day at the Royal Highland Show.
Special mention should also go to the stallions Twilight Son, Awtaad, Postponed and Phoenix Of Spain, who all got winners on the board and stand at fees of £/€10,000 or less.
Gstaad: another top one for Mosa Mine
The Coolmore/Ballydoyle conglomerate got off the mark for the meeting in the Coventry Stakes (G2) when Gstaad powered clear for a decisive victory.
Already a winner at Navan on debut, the colt was bred by Kelly Thomas’s Maywood Stud in Camarthenshire – an operation that has punched far above its weight in recent years thanks to this colt’s half-brother, the Group 1 winner and young sire Vandeek.
Gstaad, a son of Starspangledbanner, was purchased by MV Magnier for 450,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in 2023, and looks likely to write several more success stories for connections.
He is out of the Exceed And Excel mare Mosa Mine, now the dam of five winners.
Winless in seven starts, Mosa Mine was bred by Thomas and sold for £9,000 at Doncaster in October 2008, before being bought back for just £800 three years later – truly the stuff of fairy stories.
The Coolmore partners were back in the winners’ enclosure a day later with True Love, who landed the Queen Mary Stakes (G2).
Runner-up on debut in Listed company at The Curragh, True Love filled the same spot behind Gstaad at Navan, but won well at Ascot.
One of four winners at the Royal meeting for No Nay Never, the filly was bred by Coolmore out of the Listed winner Alluringly (Fastnet Rock), making her a full-sister to last year’s Airlie Stud Stakes (G2) winner Truly Enchanting, and a half-sister to another Group 2 winner in Lily Pond (Galileo), from the ever-flourishing further family of the mighty Urban Sea.
No Nay Never and the Coolmore team paired up in the Norfolk Stakes (G2) with the two-year-old Charles Darwin, who took command and stayed on to win for the third time in four starts.
A full-brother to the top-class juvenile and sire Blackbeard and the Listed-placed Run Away, they are out of the minor winner Muirin (Born To Sea).
On Day 4, the Tally-Ho Stud stallion Starman continued the sparkling start to his stud career when his daughter Venetian Sun landed the Albany Stakes (G3).
Bred by Tally-Ho and sold for 240,000gns at Tattersalls October
Book 1, the filly is a half-sister to the Listed winner Sir Yoshi (Mehmas) and is out of the Listed-placed multiple winner Johara (Iffraaj).
The Listed Windsor Castle Stakes returned a poignant moment for the stallion ranks when Havana Hurricane landed the odds for his late sire Havana Gold.
Bred by Lady Cobham and born in 2023, just a month after the premature death of his sire, the colt was snapped up by his trainer Eve Johnson Houghton with Highflyer Bloodstock for just 9,000gns at the Tattersalls Somerville Stakes last year.
He is the first foal out of Spitfire Limited (Excelebration), whose best result came when runner-up in a Class 6 sprint at Wolverhampton at three, but is a half-sister to Lossiemouth – no, not her; Spitfire Limited’s half-sister is a Grade 2 winner over hurdles by Makfi – from the family of the Group 2 winner Diffident (Nureyev).
It was the second year that Johnson-Houghton had won the race with a son of Havana Gold having been successful in 2021 with Chipotle – he had cost a touch more as yearling, setting his trainer back 10,000gns at the Tattersalls Ascot Sale, the forerunner to the Somerville Sale.
The final juvenile race of the meeting went the way of Humidity, a winner in May on debut for breeder Cheveley Park Stud, but now sporting the colours of Wathnan Racing and successful the Chesham Stakes (L).
A rare juvenile winner for Ulysees, the colt is a full-brother to Holloway Boy, who won the same race in 2022, before going on to Group 3 success at four.
This Ascot the best yet for Wathnan
Of course the meeting was not all about cheaply-bred winners and unheralded stallions; the upper echelons were as well represented as expected.
Special mention must go to Wathnan Racing, with the powerhouse represented by five winners, matching the tally of the Coolmore/Ballydoyle axis, which finished the meeting as leading owner.
Lazzat
Lazzat
The winners began with last year’s Jersey Stakes (G3) winner, the admirable Haatem (Phoenix Of Spain), who followed up this year in the Listed Wolferton Stakes on the opening day, followed half an hour later by French Master (Frankel) in the Copper Horse Handicap.
On Wednesday, the 2023 Queen Mary winner Crimson Advocate (Nyquist) completed her reinvention as a miler when triumphing in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (G2), having appeared at the Royal meeting as a sprinter last year, when 15th in the King Charles III Stakes (G1).
After the success of Humidity on the final day, Lazzat (Territories) set the seal on a great week for his owners when triumphing in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1), in a battling finish with the Japanese raider Satono Reve (Lord Kanaloa).
Lazzat was already a Group 1 winner for his former owner and breeder Nurlan Bizakov and hails from the further family of the Classic winner Sleepytime (Royal Academy). His sire is now resident at Poonawalla Stud in India, having stood at Dalham Hall Stud for the last eight years.
Trawlerman: a Golden Horn star
Another former Dalham Hall Stud inmate also celebrated Group 1 success when Trawlerman put up a mighty performance to triumph in the Gold Cup (G1).
It was only back in March that we wrote in these pages about Golden Horn’s first top-level triumphs when he supplied a pair of Grade 1 winners at the Cheltenham Festival; less than four months later, the Overbury Stud resident can boast top level winners under both codes.
Bred by Godolphin, Trawlerman, who was runner-up by just a neck in the same race last year, was conceived in his sire’s second season at stud, when his fee was still £60,000. He is out of the Group 3-placed Tidespring (Monsun), who raced in the colours of Sheikh Mohammed.
Godolphin also celebrated Group 1 success with Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) and Rebel’s Romance (Dubawi).
The former tasted defeat for the first time when runner-up in the Brigadier Gerard (G3) in May, but bounced back to winning ways in some style, triumphing by 2l in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1).
Bred by James Hanly, the colt was recruited to the Godolphin team for 340,000gns at October Book 2.
He is out of the Dansili mare Syndicate, a full-sister to the Group winner Runnymede and the dual Listed winner Stipulate, out of the Juddmonte-bred winner Indication, a daughter of Sadler’s Wells.
Rebel’s Romance put the icing on Godolphin’s Royal Ascot cake when triumphing in the Hardwicke Stakes (G2).
The globe-trotting son of Dubawi, now seven, has clocked up more airmiles that a Ryanair pilot in his six seasons of racing, winning seven top-level races and amassing well over £10m in prize-money in six different currencies, and the bandwagon shows no sign of slowing.
The beautifully-bred Trinity College was another eye-catching winner by Dubawi when landing the Hampton Court Stakes (G3) on Day 2, after his recent fourth in the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1).
Bred by Coolmore, the colt is out of the dual Guineas heroine Hermosa (Galilleo), from the outstanding family of Beauty Is Truth (Pivotal).
Earlier on Wednesday’s card, Garden Of Eden landed the Ribblesdale Stakes (G2), again for the Coolmore partners.
Purchased for €160,000 as a foal from Grange Hill Stud by Camas Park Stud and €200,000 as a yearling at Goffs when bought by Peter and Ross Doyle, the filly was out of luck in Group 3 company twice this season but got back to winning ways in Listed company at Naas in May, before posting success at Ascot.
Garden Of Eden
Garden Of Eden
By Saxon Warrior, the filly is a half-sister to Internationaldream (Acclamation) and is out of Komedy (Kodiac), who won in Spain and is a full-sister to Listed winner On Her Toes.
Last but by no means least, we should turn back to the opening day, which featured a mouth-watering class of the English, Irish and French 2,000 Guineas winners in the St James’s Palace Stakes (G1) and victory went the way of Field Of Gold in one of the week’s most impressive performances.
Runner-up at Newmarket, as was his sire Kingman, Field Of Gold hacked up at The Curragh three weeks later.
At Ascot he had over 3l in hand over the French Guineas winner Henri Matisse (Wootton Bassett), with his Newmarket conqueror Ruling Court (Justify) in third.
Field Of Gold, a son of Kingman, was bred by Bobby and Honora Donworth at their Roundhill Stud, and purchased by the Juddmonte team as a foal for €530,000 at Goffs.
A half-brother to two winners, he is out of the Shamardal mare Princess De Lune, a full-sister to the Australian Group 2 winner and sire Puissance De Lune, the Group 2 winner Queen Power and the Listed winner His Majesty, and a three-parts brother to the Group 1 victor Zabeel Prince, who is by Lope De Vega.
They are, of course, out of the well-bred Princess Serena (Unbridled’s Song), who cost the Donworths $150,000 at Keeneland in November 2003.
Winning stallions Royal Ascot 2025
|
STALLION |
WINS |
2nd |
3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
|
No Nay Never Blue Point Dubawi Awtaad Wootton Bassett Night Of Thunder Frankel Kingman Phoenix Of Spain Saxon Warrior Starman Havana Grey Invincible Spirit Lope De Vega Persian King Territories Australia Camelot Golden Horn Havana Gold Massaat Nyquist Postponed Sands Of Mali Starspangledbanner Teofilo Twilight Son Ulysses Washington DC Courtesy of Weatherbys |
4 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 |
- 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
- 1 1 1 1 - 3 2 1 1 - 3 2 1 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
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