By Tom Frary
Royal Ascot's eye was firmly trained on the latest potential queen bee from the Wesley Ward camp Happy Like a Fool (Distorted Humor) in Wednesday's G2 Queen Mary S., but ultimately she more than met her match as Heartache (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) brushed her aside for an authoritative success. Not immune to support herself as the 5-1 second favourite, the bay who scored by six lengths on her racecourse bow on Bath's unwatered firm ground May 26 took a tow from the 10-11 favourite until two out. Committed by Adam Kirby there, she soon had her market rival's measure and at the line had extended her advantage to 2 1/2 lengths. “I had her beat at halfway,” winning jockey Adam Kirby said with reference to the American challenger. “She was half-pacing. She's very good. It's only her second run and she'll improve again from today. I thought she'd come here with a live chance and she's improved a lot from Bath. She's mentally very stable and an easy mover with a big future. She listens to you and is very sweet and easy to ride. She's special.”
Wednesday, Royal Ascot, Britain
QUEEN MARY S.-G2, £110,000, ASC, 6-21, 2yo, f, 5fT, :59.63, g/f.
1–#@HEARTACHE (GB), 126, f, 2, by Kyllachy (GB)
1st Dam: Place In My Heart (GB) (SW-Eng & GSP-Fr), by Compton Place (GB)
2nd Dam: Lonely Heart (GB), by Midyan
3rd Dam: Take Heart (GB), by Electric (GB)
O-The Hot to Trot Syndicate – Heartache; B-Whitsbury Manor Stud (GB); T-Clive Cox; J-Adam Kirby. £62,381. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $84,641. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Happy Like a Fool, 126, f, 2, Distorted Humor–Lastofthsummerwine, by Sky Mesa. O-Merriebelle Stable, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B/T-Wesley Ward (KY). £23,650.[bullet ad=”ashview-farm-foaled-raised”][bullet ad=”irt-shell”][bullet ad=”us-bred-ky-bred”]3–Out of the Flames (GB), 126, f, 2, Showcasing (GB)–Primo Lady (GB), by Lucky Story. (30,000gns RNA Wlg '15 TATFOA; 37,000gns Ylg '16 TAOCT; £190,000 2yo '17 GOFBRE). O-Qatar Racing Ltd; B-Gary Hodson & Peter Moule (GB); T-Richard Hannon. £11,836.
Margins: 2HF, HF, HD. Odds: 5.00, 0.90, 14.00.
Also Ran: Now You're Talking (Ire), Neola (GB), Pursuing the Dream (Ire), Darkanna (Ire), Treasuring (GB), Missy Mischief, Maybride (GB), Mrs Gallagher (GB), Lady Anjorica (Ire), Mamba Noire (Fr), Sirici (Ire), Mother of Dragons (Ire), Formidable Kitt (GB), Bath and Tennis (Ire), Rioticism (Fr), Debutante's Ball (Ire), Wings of the Rock (Ire), Chica La Habana (Ire), Go Bananas (GB), Emilia James (GB). Scratched: One Minute (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Heartache, who was bred by the Harper family at their Whitsbury Manor Stud in Hampshire, was providing a Royal Ascot fairytale as she is leased to Sam Hoskins and Luke Lillingston's Hot To Trot Syndicate which consists of seven two-year-olds and has no less than 75 members who paid just £2,000 each. She is leased for two seasons before she returns to the stud for a mating with its star resident Showcasing (GB), who sired the winner's yearling half-sister. Trainer Clive Cox has a big week ahead with his sprinters and he was basking in another major result for his burgeoning stable. “She did it very well at Bath and I couldn't believe the time of that race,” he said. “She's no different from the rest of mine in that she has improved for a bit of racing and she's lovely to deal with. Her mother was very quick–we won a Listed race with her at Bath–and today's run was awesome. To share it with this wonderful Hot To Trot Syndicate is great–there are all manner of people here today who are so buoyed by the experience. We knew she was nice, but we were not sure how nice–to win at this level is what it is all about. I was a bit worried when I saw the American filly, who looked pretty special in the paddock, and when Adam took her on as early as he did I was a bit concerned. Adam rode her with complete confidence, and is a pretty good fellow in the saddle. Two-year-olds are my passion, the stars of the future, and she is. She could go for the [G1] Nunthorpe [S. at York Aug. 25].” Lillingston added, “We lease all our horses from breeders which means this is very, very affordable. Everybody who is here today, it has cost them a couple of thousand to have seven horses in training. This is one of the best days of my life.”
Wesley Ward said of the runner-up, “When Ryan [Moore] came back in, he just said that we got beat by a better filly and I kind of agree with him. She broke well and was there throughout like all mine have been in the past, but the other filly was just a little bit more talented than our filly today. Hopefully, we can turn the tables in the future. All these horses are young two-year-olds, even though mine are more forward. With that in mind, I do think that this filly is a big filly and I feel that she will mature into something special in the future. We will see what happens in the future, but I'm happy right now. She will go to the [G3] Molecomb [S. at Goodwood Aug. 2] and that should really put her forward for the race.” Out of the Flames's trainer Richard Hannon commented, “We are delighted that there is a very big run in this filly one day. We might look at the [G2] Prix Robert Papin [at Maisons-Laffitte July 23] or similar races. She is a very sensible filly who looks after herself. She will last.”
Heartache's aforementioned dam Place In My Heart was also third in the G3 Prix de Saint-Georges for the same stable, having won Bath's Listed Lansdown Fillies' S. A half-sister to the G3 Tetrarch S. winner Leitrim House (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}), she is a daughter of the Listed Festival S. third Lonely Heart who is herself a half to the dam of the G2 Sapphire S. and G3 Flying Five S. winner Stepper Point (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}). In the former contest, Stepper Point managed to beat Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), so the raw material for top-class sprinting prowess was always latent in this pedigree.
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