Azizam (GB)

"I'm missing my dad, he'd have been proud," was Eve Johnson Houghton's reflection after greeting her second Windsor Castle winner, just weeks after her late father Fulke had died at the age of 84. "He'd be the first person I'd ring." On a day when Ballydoyle and Godolphin stood tall again, Royal Ascot proved it still has the potential to throw up the odd surprise for the little man and they don't come much smaller than the bargain 9,000gns Tattersalls Somerville graduate Havana Hurricane. Taking his owners to Epsom for...

Jake Ballis didn't know quite what to expect when he sent Crimson Advocate (Nyquist) to the 2023 Royal Ascot meet, where she won the GII Queen Mary Stakes. He says now it was one of the most exciting days of his life, and he has vowed to get back there every day since. Ballis, who heads the Black Type Racing partnership, couldn't find a runner in 2024 that he thought could win at one of the most competitive meets in the world. But he never stopped looking. "It was probably...