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| Staff Writer |
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Charyn dominated the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, the first race of the 2024 meeting. Trained by Roger Varian and ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, the 4YO has shown remarkable progress this season and improved upon the last race at Newbury.
The race had an unusual start, with two of the French horses, Big Rock and Facteur Cheval, racing on their own on the far side, while the rest of the field followed Lockinge winner Audience.
De Sousa stayed close to Audience this time and made a decisive move with two furlongs to go, ultimately securing the victory.
Hayley Turner and Docklands gave a strong chase to claim second place, followed by Maljoom in third, while Charyn celebrated his first Group One victory.
Varian said: “I’m really so delighted for his owner (Nurlan Bizakov), who has invested so much in the game, he’s supported me for a number of years.
“Silvestre is convinced he will stay a mile and a quarter, and I kind of agree with him, but he’s not doing much wrong over a mile at the moment, so I wouldn’t be in a rush to change things.”
He went on: “He’s obviously improved with age, but he was a good 2YO – he was a Group Two-winning 2YO, he has done it through the ages. You only have to look at him in the paddock physically to see how mature he is, he’s a bull of a horse, and that is fantastic. I need to watch it again, but he looked pretty good today, and it’s exciting.”
On future plans, he added: “He’s well entered up and we need to decide what we do with him.
“He started early and his first race was at Doncaster in March, so I don’t think we can go bang, bang, bang all summer. We would love to be back here for Champions Day later in the season, with a couple of races along the way during the summer.”
Of his relationship with De Sousa, Varian said: “Nurlan was keen to keep Silvestre on Charyn after his winning start at Doncaster and it was Nurlan’s decision to keep him on right the way through.
De Sousa said: “He’s a lovely horse, he appreciates a bit more give, but he’s a horse who has been running great races and deserves to get one of these big ones.
“It’s great and I can’t believe how things are going. A Classic win in Italy and in England and now a Group One again and at Ascot, it is amazing.”
WINNERS
1st - Charyn - Owner: Mr Nurlan Bizakov - Trainer: R Varian
2nd - Docklands - Owner: O T I Racing - Trainer: Harry Eustace
3rd – Maljoom- Owner: Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum - Trainer: W J Haggas