Growing American Support For Royal Ascot

Newmarket has traditionally been the host town for visiting international raiders for Royal Ascot, not least Black Caviar (Aus) (Bel Esprit {Aus}) and many of her compatriots over the years. While there are no Australian horses entered for this year's meeting, the town has nevertheless welcomed a throng of American-trained runners, including nine from Wesley Ward's team along with the WinStar homebred American Patriot (War Front) and a first starter at Ascot for Bill Mott, the sprinter Long On Value (Value Plus).

With Ward's horses stabled at the National Stud, American Patriot and Long On Value are enjoying bed and board on the other side of town in a wing at Jane Chapple-Hyam's Abington Place, which will be doing its bit to wave the Aussie flag at Ascot next week. Though trained in Newmarket, Kaspersky (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), a multiple Group winner in Germany and Italy and an intended runner in Tuesday's G1 Queen Anne S., is trained by Chapple-Hyam and owned by fellow Australians Ernest and Ronda Clarke, who have persuaded Michelle Payne to fly over for her first ride at the Royal meeting.

Eight years ago, Payne spent a summer in Europe but her life has changed significantly since then, largely thanks to her victory in the 2015 Melbourne Cup aboard Prince Of Penzance (NZ) (Pentire {GB}).

“It's been fairly crazy,” admitted Payne, who has also recently taken out her trainer's licence. “The book has come out and at the end of the year work is staring on a movie about my life. I don't know who will be playing me but [Payne's brother and Prince Of Penzance's strapper] Stevie will be playing himself and he's really excited about that.”

Commitments at home with the horses under her care mean that Payne is in the UK only briefly, but she will return in July to taken her place on the all-female team for the Shergar Cup, which is also held at Ascot.

She added, “Obviously in Australia the Melbourne Cup is our holy grail but having the opportunity to come out here to ride at Royal Ascot is incredible–it's such a prestigious meeting. Kaspersky may be 40-1 but Jane has him in great shape. He's a stallion and he'll make his presence felt.”

Payne continued, “I missed out on the Shergar Cup last year after I got injured so it's great to have a second chance to come back again for that. I've never ridden at Ascot but I've been watching plenty of replays of races from there, including as many previous Queen Anne Stakes as I can to try to get an idea of how the race tends to be run.”

Among those replays will have been the recording of the most recent Queen Anne winner Tepin (Bernstein), who got the meeting off to a great start for the American team last year and has provided inspiration for some of her countrymen. Riley Mott, in town to supervise his father's representative Long On Value, said on Thursday morning, “Mr [Wesley] Ward has been a fixture at Ascot for several years now and Mr [Mark] Casse bringing Tepin over last year made us start to think that it would be possible to come here and be competitive.”

The 6-year-old Long On Value, who runs a week on Saturday in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S., was certainly competitive in his most recent overseas trip to Dubai when beaten just a nose by The Right Man (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint.

“It was frustrating but it was also very rewarding to take him across the world and compete with an international field,” Mott commented. “The fact that he was able to compete with that quality of horse gave us the confidence to come here. He's settled in extremely well and we were very pleased with his first gallop today–so far, so good.”

Alongside his temporary stablemate American Patriot, Long On Value sauntered out to Newmarket's famous Limekilns gallop–a vast expanse of turf which would almost certainly be unlike anything either horse has encountered before. Both appeared unfazed by the openness of the heath, with the Todd Pletcher-trained American Patriot cantering just less than a mile and being followed up the turf at a distance by the sprinter.

Ginny DePasquale is in town representing Pletcher, who won the GI Maker's 46 Mile at Keeneland with the 4-year-old he has brought to the UK ahead of taking two legs of the American Triple Crown with Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) and Tapwrit (Tapit).

“It's been an amazing six weeks,” said DePasquale. “Obviously we're hoping for the best next week. Winning at Ascot is very prestigious for any American trainer–it's the most prestigious race meeting in the world–and it would definitely be a feather in our cap.”

Wesley Ward took his team of nine for a day trip to Ascot racecourse yesterday and those who fear the American trainer's prolific strike-rate at the meeting will not have been pleased to hear that Ryan Moore–deputising for the injured Frankie Dettori in a piece of work aboard Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy)–was buzzing about the filly's performance on the track which last year hosted her seven-length demolition job in the G2 Queen Mary S.

“She's a true champion. She's a sweetheart to be around but when she gets to the track she puts it all in,” Ward offered, confirming that Lady Aurelia would take aim at Tuesday's G1 King's Stand S.

“From yesterday and everything I've seen this morning, I'm very happy. Ascot is the focal point of my year's training. In the winter I don't even go racing. I'm out at the farm all day long trying to pinpoint which horses I'll be bringing.”

The unbeaten Bound For Nowhere (The Factor) is also pleasing Ward ahead of the G1 Commonwealth Cup, while Happy Like A Fool (Distorted Humor) will attempt to emulate Lady Aurelia in the Queen Mary, Arawak (Uncle Mo) heads to the G2 Coventry S. and McErin will be aimed at Thursday's G2 Norfolk S. Completing the juvenile runners are G3 Albany S. entrants and Scat Daddy-sired Princess Peggy and Fairyland, while Nootka Sound (Lonhro {Aus}) and Elizabeth Darcy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) are both in the Listed Windsor Castle S. The latter, a turf winner over five furlongs in May and graduate of last year's Goffs Orby Sale, will have Luke Barry dusting off his top hat as she was bred in Limerick by his Manister House Stud.

Two American Royal Ascot runners who managed to avoid the media glare on Thursday morning are Miss Temple City (Temple City), who is set to make her third appearance at the meeting, and G1 Coronation S. starter La Coronel (Colonel John). Trained respectively by Graham Motion and Mark Casse, they arrived together on Tuesday and are stabled more than 100 miles from Newmarket in Lambourn.