The third day of Royal Ascot and the third new Group I winner for Frankel, this one ridden by Frankie Dettori, plus a Group II winner from Aussie bred glamour girl Sea Siren and another US bred 2YO stakes-winner.
The Group I Ascot Gold Cup (2m4f) is the ultimate long distance staying contest with race favourite Coltrane going down by three-quarters of a length to lightly raced Frankel gelding Courage Mon Ami with Frankie Dettori on board.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Courage Mon Ami won his only to starts last year and then won at Goodwood when returning in a handicap race last month so made it four wins in as many starts when landing his first stakes race to become the 31st Group I winner for Frankel and his third Group I winner this week.
“You can't practice two and a half miles at home, but he (Frankie Dettori) stayed cool and rode him cool in the dark down the inside, saving every inch. I saw he went to go outside turning into the straight and they said no, go back in, and luckily he managed to wriggle through and found a great run,” said John Gosden.
“Courage Mon Ami is a gelding by Frankel, he's unbeaten, but he's gone from the all-weather to Goodwood to here, so full achievement to the horse.”
It was a ninth Ascot Gold Cup win for Frankie Dettori, who retires at the end of the year.
"I didn't expect it," said Dettori.
"The last five years I've had Stradivarius, so the pressure was on. This one I thought was a bit of a chancer coming from handicaps, but John Gosden is a great trainer and he does things like that. Sometimes, if I don't believe it, I'll just go along with it.
"I rode him cold and it just happened. I got the splits when I wanted and he showed a turn of foot. The last half a furlong, I couldn't get rid of Oisin [Murphy, rider of runner-up Coltrane] and I thought, 'No, we've got this far, please keep going'."
Bred by Hascombe and Valiant Stud, Courage Mon Ami was bought privately for Wathnan Racing and is a three-quarter brother to stakes-winners Astronomos and Crimson Rosette being the third stakes-winner from winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Crimson Ribbon, a sibling to Group winners Bronze Cannon, Across the Stars and Valiant Girl.
The Group II Ribblesdale Stakes (1m4f) for three year-old fillies was won by the Aidan O’Brien trained Galileo filly Warm Heart, a daughter of Australian bred triple Group I winner Sea Siren.
A stakes-winner at her previous start, Warm Heart powered away for Ryan Moore to win by two and a half lengths over Saxon Warrior filly Lumiere Rock ridden by James McDonald.
With three wins and a second from five starts, Warm Heart has a Group III placed full sister called Celestial Object and is the best of three winners from four foals to race so far from Sea Siren, who has an unraced two year-old Galileo colt in Ireland and produced a colt by Camelot in Australia last spring. She was one of 203 mares covered by Home Affairs last year in his first season at stud.
The family of Sea Siren has been making headlines in Australia with the $1million Group I SAJC Robert Sangster Stakes winner Ruthless Dame adding further lustre to the page.
Warm Heart is a grand-daughter of Express a Smile, who is the third dam of Ruthless Dame, who runs in the Group I Tatts Tiara on Saturday.
The Group II Norfolk Stakes(5f) for two year-olds was won by rank outsider Valiant Force, a US bred colt trained by Adrian Murray for Amo Racing.
Competitive in his first two starts in stakes races, Valiant Force broke his maiden winning by a length and a quarter over Malc, a son of first season sire Calyx.
The 136th stakes-winner for Malibu Moon, Valiant Force was a $75,000 Keeneland November weanling that then made $100,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale when bought by Robson Aguiar/Roger O'Callaghan and was entered for the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale this year, but withdrawn.
He is the first foal of unraced Quality Road mare Vigui’s Heart, a daughter of stakes-winner Blue Heart.
The Group III Hampton Court Stakes (1m2f) was won by three year-old colt Waipiro backing up from a sixth placing in the Epsom Derby.
Trained by Ed Walker and ridden by Tom Marquand, he won by a couple of lengths taking his record to two wins and a second from five starts.
He is the 34th stakes-winner foe Epsom Derby winner Australia and is a half-brother to Hong Kong trained Group I winner Waikuku from placed Danehill Dancer mare London Plane, a sister to Group II placed Al lWaab.
