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| Staff Writer |
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Leovanni surged ahead in the last stretch and won the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. The filly, trained by Karl Burke, raced near the front in the group on the far side before jockey James Doyle urged her to take the lead.
With a previous win under her belt, the Wathnan Racing-owned filly displayed impressive speed and easily pulled away from the competition, winning by a length and three-quarters .
Mighty Eriu, trained by Gavin Cromwell, finished in second place, while Maw Lam, trained by Adrian Nicholls, secured third place.
“I was pleased with her on debut, she won like a potentially smart filly, but it’s so hard to tell. Look at yesterday, I had the choice of three in the Coventry Stakes and the one I picked finished out the back. The other two just got beat. It’s very difficult to make choices, thankfully I didn’t have to choose between two in this race!” said jockey James Doyle.
He added tellingly: “I won this race before on a filly called Rizeena for Clive Britain (2013) and I would say this filly has all the class that she had. The raw speed, the ability to relax, the temperament, being versatile with the ground. There is a lot to look forward to with her.”
Burke said: “It looked very, very smooth, James said she travelled beautifully. She’s got a fantastic mind, not just for a 2YO but a breeze up 2YO, she’s unbelievable. Going forward I’m sure she’ll stay six (furlongs).
Brown was quick to praise Doyle, who left Godolphin to join the big-spending but fledgling Wathnan operation.
He said: “He’s a top-class sportsman and we were very young, we were only nine months in and we were asking him to leave a top job. But I think he could see the vision of Wathnan and it’s great to see him up there picking up the trophy.
He went on: “No amount of investment guarantees success in any sport, in particularly racing when there are 27 others lining up against you who cost an almighty amount of money between them.
“This filly cost a decent amount of money, but in the grand scheme of it it would not have been what some of them would have cost.
“Whether it is Wathnan or anyone it is our job to get people to participate in this amazing sport. I have been coming here for over 20 years and yet you still look around, see the royal procession and the racing, it is still a world-class sporting event.
Nicholls was proud to see Maw Lam run a big race for his relatively small yard.
He said: “I haven’t got the firepower that a lot have coming down here, this is my only runner and you are coming with hope rather than expectation.
“She ran a great race, they went fast Hollie (Doyle) said and she has finished strong. To get black type in the Queen Mary is brilliant and it is onwards and upwards.
“I’ll see what the team want to do, maybe go for a Listed race and then onwards to better things.”
WINNERS
1st- Leovanni | Owner: Wathnan Racing & Trainer: K R Burke
2nd- Mighty Erui | Owner: Qatar Racing Limited & Fergus Galvin & Trainer: G P Cromwell
3rd- Maw Lam | Owner: Mr C R Hirst & Trainer: Adrian Nicholls