Royal Ascot 2017 - Caravaggio stays unbeaten

On the penultimate day of Royal Ascot 2017, the Queen arrived with two royal runners scheduled on the card – Call To Mind in the King Edward VII, and Mainstream in the Duke Of Edinburgh. The Commonwealth Cup and the Coronation Stakes, both Group 1 races, were the highlights of Friday.

For the Americans, their biggest hopeful of the day was La Coronel, who ran in the Coronation.

G3 Albany Stakes - DIFFERENT LEAGUE

Different League (20-1 GB, 28-1 USA) kicked the day off with a victory for France in the Albany. The two-year-old Dabirsim filly broke off to lead the far side with jockey Antoine Hamelin, but the group on the near side was ahead for most of the stretch. Different League surged forward with Alpha Centauri on her heels and the pair finished one-two, while Take Me With You held for third on the near side. Different League, trained by Matthieu Palussiere for Mrs. Theresa Marnane, finished the six furlongs in 1:14.60.

Wesley Ward trainees, Princess Peggy and Fairyland, finished 10th and 12th respectively. Princess Peggy was knocked down by a bicyclist earlier in the week when walking back to the stables after training. Thankfully, she was no worse for the wear. 

G2 King Edward VII Stakes - PERMIAN

Permian (6-1 GB, 5-1 USA) led gate to wire in the King Edward VII, a race about 1 ½ miles for three-year-olds. William Buick, who just won his third race of the week, guided the Teofilo colt for trainer Mark Johnston and Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum. Permian completed the race in 2:30.10, holding off a late charge from Khalidi. Crystal Ocean held for third, and the Queen’s Call To Mind finished sixth.

G1 Commonwealth Cup - CARAVAGGIO

The bold and dark grey Caravaggio (5-6 GB, 4-5 USA) earned his second Royal Ascot win. Last year, it was the G2 Coventry Stakes, and now he is a dual Group 1 winner after taking the Commonwealth Cup, remaining unbeaten in six starts. The team of Coolmore, Aidan O’Brien, and Ryan Moore teamed up to bolster their Royal Ascot resumes even more. Caravaggio was Moore’s fourth winning ride, and Coolmore and O’Brien received their third wins of the week.

"He's obviously a brilliant horse," added O'Brien. "I don't think we've ever had a quicker horse!"

The entire field stayed to the far side throughout the six furlongs. Caravaggio, who reared just before the break, was surrounded by the group, but that didn’t stop him from bursting to the front when given the chance. Harry Angel and Blue Point chased him home to run second and third, but Caravaggio dug in for a game win, stopping the clock in 1:13.49. The victory gave the late Scat Daddy, who stood at Coolmore, his fourth Royal Ascot winner this year.

G1 Coronation Stakes - WINTER

It certainly was a coronation for the Coolmore fillies trained by Aidan O’Brien, with Winter (4-9 GB, 2-5 USA), Roly Poly, and Hydrangea finishing in the top three. Roly Poly settled just outside the pacesetter, Winter was tucked in on the rail, and Hydrangea was to her outside. La Coronel, the American filly trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Florent Geroux, bid her time further back during the one-turn race, about a mile long.

Roly Poly tried to take the lead turning for home and held off multiple challenges to finish second, including her stablemate, Hydrangea, who rallied for third. However, it was the grey Winter that soared out from the group to be the clear winner, hitting the wire in 1:39.39. La Coronel didn’t show the same fire she did stateside and finished fifth.

The Coronation was the third straight Group 1 win for Winter, with the English and Irish 1,000 Guineas preceding today’s race. Coolmore and O’Brien now have four wins together for Royal Ascot 2017, and Moore, who was in the saddle for each of those wins, has ridden five horses into the winner’s circle. Winter marked the second winner of the meet for her sire, Galileo.

G2 Queen’s Vase - STRADIVARIUS

A crowd of horses came running late in the Queen’s Vase, but it was Stradivarius (11-2 GB, 5-1 USA) who ran down Count Octave and Secret Advisor for the win. For the majority of the race, which was about 1 ¾ miles, Stradivarius was in between horses with not much place to go. Jockey Andrea Atzeni was able to find an opening in the final stretch, and Stradivarius quickly covered the ground in between him and Count Octave. The three-year-old colt gave his sire, Sea The Stars, and his trainer, John Gosden, their second wins. Stradivarius, owned by Mr. Bjorn E. Nielsen, completed the race in 3:10.47.

Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes – RARE RHYTHM

Rare Rhythm (20-1) closed out Friday with a strong win in the Duke Of Edinburgh, and the five-year-old gelding awarded the Godolphin team with their sixth victory of the meet. Rare Rhythm began to draw away in the home stretch under William Buick, and the more the others chased, the more Rare Rhythm dug in. After nearly 1 ½ miles, the clock stopped in 2:31.15. Appeared got up for second, and Star Storm was third. Buick now has four wins from the meet, and trainer Charlie Appleby has two, both for Godolphin. Rare Rhythm is the third Royal Ascot winner this year sired by Dubawi.

Tomorrow is the final day of Royal Ascot 2017. NBCSN will broadcast the races from 8:30am – 1pm ET.

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