Dartmouth delivers Royal present after Ascot victory

Yet there is no reason why Dartmouth should not line up in next month’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot after a stirring win in Saturday’s Hardwicke Stakes.

The victory – the perfect 90th birthday present for Her Majesty – was her first at the Royal meeting since the majestic Estimate won a stirring Gold Cup three years ago.

Even the dreaded sound of the racecourse klaxon signifying a stewards’ inquiry did not deter the Queen from hot-footing it to the winner’s enclosure to greet her horse, jockey Oliver Peslier and reminisce with trainer Sir Michael Stoute who was equalling the late Sir Henry Cecil’s record of 75 Royal Ascot 
winners.

It’s just a shame that no one at Channel Four Racing had the foresight to break off from a Clare Balding interview and show the Queen’s face at the moment the stewards confirmed the result after deeming interference with the runner-up Highland Reel to be minimal. The expression would have told its own story.

Her Majesty’s 23rd winner at Royal Ascot, Dartmouth is likely to be aimed at next month’s King George, a race that Aureole won in 1954 for the Queen just over a year after finishing runner-up to the Sir Gordon Richards-ridden Pinza in the Epsom Derby.

The win provided the Queen with some compensation after her horse Guy Fawkes had to be euthanised after breaking a leg at Royal Ascot on Thursday, and she showed she’s just like any other owner in the way she accepts the ups and downs of a sport which is both a passion and a relaxation from official duties.

“It has been a long week and there have been a few ups and downs but he is a very, very smart horse,” said Her Majesty’s racing manager John Warren whose celebrations in the Royal box were slightly more measured in comparison to the aftermath of the aforementioned Estimate’s win.

“He had never been in this company before, so we weren’t sure what to expect and Michael is such a master of training horses to their peak. It means a lot to the Queen and Michael had it absolutely firmly in his mind that this was always going to be the objective. We were just hoping that he was really up to it but he is such a genuine horse and The Queen got such a thrill from seeing him stick his head out.

“We reminded ourselves of watching Estimate and how, in her race, everything went so smoothly – the jockey was sitting comfortably in the right position. Halfway through the race, the Queen said ‘Hmm, things are going well’, which is very indicative of the outcome very often.

“The last furlong seemed like a long one, and the stewards’ enquiry added to the anticipation. He is a very smart horse and a really tough, genuine horse. Everyone covets those type of horses.

“It reminded us in the papers that Ralph Beckett has been training for 17 years and had his first winner yesterday. That explains how tough it is to win any race here, however many participants you have and how much effort you put it. This is the Olympics, so to have a runner here is huge and to end up with a winner is so fantastic.”

The Queen stroked Dartmouth’s head in the winner’s circle before collecting her owner’s prize from her grand-daughter Princess Beatrice.

Laughest loudest of all was the victorious trainer, Stoute saying: “The Queen was beaming after the result of the inquiry was announced. She just loves the game. It made me realise just how much she knows about the game. It’s a big thrill to equal Sir Henry’s record. It’s very poignant. 75 Royal Ascot winners is a great mark to reach and I hope it doesn’t stop there.”

Until this Group Two race, jockey Ryan Moore was dominating the climax of the meeting thanks to winning rides on Aidan O’Brien’s Churchill – already a leading contender for next year’s 2000 Guineas – and Sir Isaac Newton.

However he gave up the chance to ride Dartmouth in the Hardwicke Stakes, opting to ride the unplaced Exosphere, and Her Majesty reminded Moore of this oversight when she presented the jockey with his trophy after he had won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes on Henry Candy’s sprinter Twilight Son.

A win that confirmed Moore as the meeting’s top rider with six successes to his name, Twilight Son – unplaced at York last month – prevailed in a five-way blanket finish in which Suedois from David O’Meara’s North Yorkshire yard was a far from disgraced fifth.

Next month’s July Cup at Newmarket is a likely target for Candy’s charge, the trainer revealing how he stepped up the horse’s work at home following the below-par Knavesmire run.