Frankie Dettori may have belatedly exited stage left, but Royal Ascot and flat racing has a new darling; step forward Billy Loughnane.
The irrepressible 20-year-old delighted the day one Ascot crowds with success aboard Betfred 2,000 Guineas winner Bow Echo who overcame trouble leaving the stalls to hold on grimly from Gstaad in the closing stages of a pulsating renewal of the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes.
In scenes reminiscent of Dettori in his pomp, Loughnane lapped up fervent adulation in the Berkshire sunshine on the walk back to the winner’s enclosure after his well-backed mount clung on to his unbeaten record by a diminishing margin as Ryan Moore drove Irish Guineas winner Gstaad to within a short head at the line.
Moore was later handed a three-day ban for careless riding by the stewards for the incident at the start which saw Gstaad dive left into Bow Echo as the pair left the stalls.
In typically modest fashion, Loughnane labelled his ride aboard George Boughey’s star colt as ‘not my finest’, but Moore’s manoeuvre out of the stalls set the favourite a tougher task than in the Guineas where his passage was serene throughout.
A delighted Loughnane said: ‘The first furlong was crucial, but we got squeezed out early. There was five of us in a line and I slightly lost my position from there on.
Billy Loughnane could be the new Frankie Dettori after success at Ascot on day one
‘He is very determined to win this horse. He has a fantastic turn of foot with a lot of ability.
‘You have to adapt from there on (after the scrimmaging at the start). It is just a case of getting him back relaxed and trying to get him breathing again and into his rhythm. Once he found that he was powerful.
‘There was a little bit of pressure coming here today with him being a 2000 Guineas winner that was unbeaten, but thankfully he managed to get the job done.
‘He travelled very powerfully and he has got a great turn of foot. Gstaad and Ryan probably had a more economical route than we had so we probably wasted a bit of ground, but he is a very talented horse and was tough towards the business end.’
A palpably relieved Boughey added: ‘I think champions win ugly don’t they?
‘It was all a bit Sir Alex Ferguson, winning where it really matters is what counts!
‘I’m just so pleased that we came out on the right side of it, it’s huge.
‘In the Guineas he was very raw and had to learn on the job and this was a very different race. We can work back from the Sussex Stakes now.’
Aidan O’Brien might have been on the wrong end of the photo in the St James’s Palace but he completed a set of all the Group One events run at Royal Ascot when Mission Central and Moore powered to an unlikely success in the King Charles III Stakes.
The 14/1 chance had more horses in front than behind a furlong from home, but displayed blistering acceleration to sprint clear of his rivals to give his handler a 98th Royal Ascot success.
Number 97 had been recorded in the previous race when Ballydoyle second string Great Barrier Reef landed the Group 2 Coventry Stakes under Wayne Lordan.
The meeting began when rank outsider Ten Bob Tony sprung the biggest shock in recent history of the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes when scoring cosily at 50/1 for trainer Ed Walker and rider Kieran Shoemark.
There was no such fortune for the His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen as their runner in the Ascot Stakes, Reaching High, trailed in last of the 20 runners after being backed into 13/8 market leader, a performance which completed a rather mixed afternoon for the gelding’s pilot Moore.
