Injury rules Dettori out as Lady Aurelia romps to Ascot win

Dettori, Flat racing’s biggest name, was ruled out of the entire Royal Ascot meeting yesterday after failing to recover from a freakish arm injury suffered when he was unseated in the paddock at Yarmouth last week.

Lady Aurelia, the scintillating winner of last year’s Queen Mary Stakes, was one of the horses that the Italian-born jockey was looking forward to ride this week – and with justification judging by this most eyecatching of performances.

The filly had three lengths in hand over Clive Cox’s Group One winner Profitable at the end of this five-furlong sprint after scorching across the sun-drenched turf.

She is trained in America by Wesley Ward who said: “That was awesome. Lady Aurelia is a very special filly.

“This is a Group One with some of the fastest horses in the world, and to duplicate what she did last year, she is a once in a lifetime horse.

“The only thing is I feel so bad for my man Frankie. He should have been up (yesterday). I need to sit down with the owners, but I would like to go the Nunthorpe Stakes at York with her next.”

Ward is hopeful that Happy Like A Fool can provide him with a fourth victory in today’s renewal of the Queen Mary Stakes.

He said: “She is great – doing super. She’s got a beautiful mind, is extremely talented and is a big filly too. If they are big and fast they are usually really good.”

Meanwhile, today’s feature is the Prince of Wales’s Stakes in which Jack Hobbs, named after the England cricket legend, drops back in trip to 10 furlongs.

However, jockey William Buick, victorious on Richard Fahey’s Ribchester yesterday, does not expect this to be a hindrance.

Trained by John Gosden, the five-year-old was runner-up to stablemate Golden Horn in the 2015 Epsom Derby before making no mistake in the Irish equivalent.

Injuries have limited him to just a handful of starts since his Classic year, but he impressed on his seasonal bow in Dubai back in March when he was barely off the bridle in the 12-furlong Sheema Classic, beating the classy Seventh Heaven by two and a quarter lengths.

Third in the last two renewals of the Champion Stakes over course and distance, Buick does not see the change in trip as an issue.

“Obviously he’s dropping back a couple of furlongs, but he showed a lot of pace in Dubai when he wore the blinkers first time,” said Buick.

“He was very good there, he travelled very well and he’s run well in two Champion Stakes there so he’ll be comfortable enough at the trip.”

Aidan O’Brien’s globetrotter Highland Reel was last behind Jack Hobbs in Dubai, but he was unsuited by the heavy rain that fell on the day.

He subsequently bounced back to win the Coronation Cup at Epsom. “He’s an incredibly versatile horse and, while it’s not been long since Epsom, we’ve been happy with what he has done since then,” said O’Brien.

“He’s very sound mentally and physically, and very consistent. He has a lot of natural ability, a lot of natural tactical pace and obviously he stays very well too.”