Day 2 at Royal Ascot produced the 30th Group I winner for Frankel, saw Frankie Dettori find the winner’s circle and a US raider salute, while a bargain cast off filly from Shadwell has proven an outstandingly good investment for her new owners!
The Group I Prince of Wales’s Stakes (1m2f) produced another upset and a new Group I winner for Frankel with the Shadwell homebred five year-old stallion Mostahdaf scoring a dominant four length win over race favourite Luxembourg with 2021 Epsom Derby winner Adayar in third place.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden and ridden by Jim Crowley, Mostahdaf had two runs in Meydan earlier this year including a fourth to Equinox in the G1 Sheema Classic and was having his first start since then.
“The ground's dried out, which Mostahdaf really enjoys, he likes to bounce off good ground. He's had a couple of runs on soft and he's laboured on it but he got his perfect ground today” said John Gosden.
“In fairness to him, he won the Neom Cup in Riyadh in great style and then he took on probably the best horse in the world in Equinox. He tried to make a race of it and the other horse was just in another league. He didn't stay, which cost him second place and he dropped back to fourth, but he tried hard. I always find the Eclipse comes too close. It's two weeks and he's had a big race today. I would wait for the Juddmonte International, that would be the race for him. He likes to run fresh.”
Mostahdaf has nine wins and two placings from 15 starts and becomes the 30th Group I winner for Frankel and is his second G1 winner at this meeting after Triple Time won the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday.
Mostahdaf is a half-brother to dual Group I winner Nazeef from stakes-winning Dubawi mare Handassa, a half-sister to Group winners Desert Stone and Euginio.
The Frankel x Dubawi nick is building some impressive stats with 27 winners from 32 runners (84.4% winner to runner) and eight stakes-winners, four of them Group I winners with 25% SW to runner!!
The Group II Queen’s Vase (1m6f) for three year-olds produced a popular winner for Frankie Dettori with the John and Thady Gosden trained colt Gregory starting favourite to score an easy length and a half win.
Unbeaten Gregory has three wins from three starts and is the 16th stakes-winner for Epsom Derby winner Golden Horn. A homebred for Normandie Stud, he is a half-brother to stakes-winner Lionel from Group II winning Galileo mare Gretchen, a half-sister to Group I Irish St Leger winner Duncan.
The Group II Duke of Cambridge Stakes (1m) for mares was won by four year-old Dubawi mare Rogue Millennium, whose previous best win was at Listed level.
Trained by Tom Clover and ridden by Daniel Tudhope, she scored a neck win and has three wins and four placings from 10 starts, not bad for a Shadwell Stud cast off that races for The Rogues Gallery Syndicate having been bought as an unraced two year-old filly from the 2021 Tattersalls December Mares Sale for just 35,000 guineas.
Rogue Millennium is the best of three winners from Group III winner Hawaafez, who comes from the family of champion sprinter Moonlight Cloud and traces in tail female line to blue hen Doff the Derby.
The Group II Queen Mary Stakes (5f) for two year-old fillies produced a win for US visitor Crimson Advocate trained by George Weaver and ridden by John Velasquez.
A Listed winner at Gulfstream at her second start, Crimson Advocate scored a nose win and is one of 19 stakes-winners for Uncle Mo’s Kentucky Derby winning son Nyquist. She is the best of three winners from stakes-winning Proud Citizen mare Citizen Advocate and was bought as a yearling for $100,000 at the Ocala October Yearling Sale running at Ascot for Black Type Thoroughbreds
