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| Sumita Pawar |
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On Tuesday, Royal Champion (16/1) secured Jack Mitchell's first Royal Ascot victory in the Listed Wolferton Stakes, earning owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum an opening-day double.
Despite being three-wide for most of the ten-furlong race, the gelding trained by Roger Varian had enough stamina left to surge forward after the home turn. The five-year-old displayed impressive strength as he approached the final furlong and maintained his lead to win by one and a quarter lengths.
Royal Champion Surges To Victory
Ryan Moore kept Bolshoi Ballet in a good position throughout the race and the runner-up held on well to fend off Buckaroo, the 3/1 favourite who made a late charge from behind to finish third.
Mitchell said, “It is amazing. I am no spring chicken in the weighing room and it's nice to get the monkey off my back. Everyone says it and it's probably a cliche, but this is our Olympics and where everyone wants to be riding.
“I am very fortunate to get on a horse I know very well, and he delivered for me today, which was the best he has felt. The ground is probably key, and the fact that he’s a rhythm horse – he needs to get into a rhythm. Although I was three wide, I had a bit of cover and he relaxed straight away.
“He actually came alive with me at the four and I was holding on, holding on, and the more I was holding on to him, the more he was grabbing the bit off me. It’s nice to actually sit and wait in a race like that. I know him quite well. Up at Ayr, when he won the Doonside Cup, he got there three out and was pulling a cart. I thought, I’ll squeeze the button to see if he’d stretch away, and he went five or six clear, so I knew he had it in the engine – it was just whether he’d perform today.
Varian And Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's Support Pays off
"I can't thank Sheikh Mohammed Obaid and Roger Varian enough for keeping me on this horse. It means everything to ride this winner for Roger – he’s a great supporter and got me going again after a little break. I think it is 10 years I’ve been with him now, which is showing my age, but it’s always important to get these winners, and for Roger it is extra special. I’ve been here many times, but to get this victory is amazing and I hope I get another.”
Varian said, “It is nice to get one on the board on the first day, and I’m delighted to have a winner for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, who is a great supporter. He’s a bit in and out, this horse, but we knew there was a big day in him. The team had him in great shape for today and Jack gave him a fine ride.
“He was very good at Epsom last year in the same race Cadillac won on the way here, and was very good at Ayr, winning the Doonside Cup. They were his two highlights – he was a bit in and out at other times. He needed a run in the heavy ground at Chester but he’s trained really well in the last couple of weeks.”
Aidan O’Brien said of Bolshoi Ballet, “I am delighted with his run – he ran a very good race. He won’t mind stepping up to a mile and a half again.”