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| Staff Writer |
Carmers continued his rapid progression when booking his Queen's Vase ticket with an impressive victory in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Yeats Stakes at Navan.
The Wootton Bassett colt, trained by Paddy Twomey, was winning for the second time in just eight days, having made a successful debut at Ballinrobe over the same one-mile-five-furlong trip.
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Racing prominently throughout under Billy Lee, Carmers easily shook off all challengers to secure a three-length victory from Adrian Murray's What's Your Game in the Listed contest.
The bay colt had won on debut just over a week earlier, taking a Ballinrobe maiden by a length and a quarter with the field well strung out behind him.
Stepping up to stakes company on just his second racecourse appearance, Carmers once again demonstrated his staying prowess and class.
Twomey said: "I was very happy with the way he did it in Ballinrobe. He's a horse that just does what he has to do, hence the headgear (blinkers).
"I thought he would run a good race and I thought he would finish the race well. I thought he would be in the (first) three. He surprised me maybe just how well he won at the line, he won comfortably and Donagh (O'Connor) said he had to go down the back straight to pull him up.
"He came home, licked the pot, rode out this week, didn't care and I said to Billy 'I'm going to put him in the Yeats and see what happens'. As the week went on, it became clear that he was ready to go."
The trainer added: "I said it to the owner there, that race (Queen's Vase) in Royal Ascot is probably the right race for him. He's a stayer and he has enough experience to go to a race like that."
Earlier on the card, Aidan O'Brien landed a notable double with two Royal Ascot prospects.
Gstaad, a half-brother to Vandeek, made a winning debut in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden over six furlongs, striking by three-quarters of a length to enter Coventry Stakes calculations.
O'Brien's other winner was the US$2.4 million purchase Seattle, who claimed the five-furlong Navan Racecourse Maiden by a length and a quarter, putting himself in the Commonwealth Cup picture.