Thought For The Day: Cornelius Lysaght Royal Ascot reflections
Cornelius Lysaght reflects on the action from the final day of Royal Ascot when The Queen and Wonderful Tonight took centre stage.
The racing headlines here were made by the filly Wonderful Tonight in the Hardwicke, by third-time-lucky Dream Of Dreams in the Diamond Jubilee, and by Rohaan in the Wokingham.
But, for many, in comparison to the maiden appearance of the week by The Queen they were more like also-rans.
After being declared a non-runner on days one to four, so following the action from seven miles away at Windsor Castle, Her Majesty arrived at 2pm in what seemed like a similar shade of light blue as the one found in her late mother’s racing silks.
Apart from 2020 when the pandemic forced the meeting to be held in private, she has attended every Royal Ascot since 1946. Before this, however, it had been other members of her family, headed by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Princess Royal, who had given Ascot its Royal.
That her late husband Prince Philip was no longer at her side, and she was accompanied by a single lady-in-waiting, only added to the poignancy of the moment.
Clearly the word was out and as Grenadier Guards bandsmen struck up the National Anthem, crowds swarmed around to wave and cheer – even Extinction Rebellion knew, later staging a short-lived demonstration.
They wanted her assistance to help “tackle the climate and ecological emergency”, but today was just not the time as The Queen's representatives on the track sought to tackle the altogether different challenges presented by the Jersey, the Chesham and, even more, the Wokingham.
Trainers and jockeys were brought to her personal Royal Enclosure, constructed alongside rather than within the paddock where the masks she dislikes are mandatory.
As it turned out, her total number of Royal winners at Ascots over the years remains 24 after four final-day runners finished out of the winners’ circle, though Reach For The Moon, runner-up behind Point Lonsdale in the Chesham, and Wokingham third King’s Lynn – luckless again, just as he had been in the King’s Stand on Tuesday – both ran with distinction.
While Royal Ascot and the King George fixture in July are clearly the course’s principal events, the status and profile of its British Champions Day in the autumn have grown quickly.
And it was on a soaking October day – what is it about this place and wet weather at the moment: they had nearly two inches of rain on Friday – that the mud-loving, David Menuisier-trained filly Wonderful Tonight really announced herself when thundering home in the Fillies & Mares Stakes, though to be fair she was already a Group One winner in France.
The horse – named by music mogul-owner Chris Wright after the Eric Clapton song – underlined the rockstar potential which has some thinking towards the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with another striking win, this time in the Hardwicke.
Having burst through under William Buick with just over a furlong remaining, there was just no stopping her. French-born Menuisier, based at Coombelands, West Sussex, where Guy Harwood trained Dancing Brave for Arc glory, decided to target this race when clocking the weather forecast, and how spectacularly he was rewarded for his foresight.
He said: “She’s Wonderful Tonight and wonderful all day. I am very proud of the team, proud of the filly and also proud it is the only day Her Majesty came this week so I’m pleased she got to see this filly live. I would expect a fair amount of improvement – she was 85% fit coming here: the fact that handles soft/heavy so well compensated for the lack of fitness. She loves Ascot and loves Longchamp so we will keep an eye on all [possible] races.”
The success was a first at the Royal meeting for Menuisier but, in contrast, Sir Michael Stoute was taking home his 82nd trophy when the seven-year-old Dream Of Dreams put behind him the disappointment of two previous (very) near-misses in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
In the Wokingham, the rise of cheaply-bought Rohaan, trained by David Evans, continued when charging from pretty much last to first, ridden by Shane Kelly.
Though admittedly it’s being wise after the event, odds of 8/1 seem terrifically generous as in May the first three-year-old to be successful in this sprint handicap since the 1980s saw off Friday’s disqualified Commonwealth Cup first-past-the-post Dragon Symbol at Haydock.
Final point: I just checked, and Royal Ascot’s finale, the Queen Alexandra, the Flat season’s longest race at just about two-and-three-quarter miles – though feeling more like the Welsh Grand National in the mud this time – is done and dusted.
We can start looking forward to 2022.
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