Royal Ascot: Merchant, Charles Darwin win undercard stakes

Favored Merchant produced a strong late run to take the King George V Stakes, on Thursday at Royal Ascot, providing syndicate Highclere Thoroughbred Racing with a fifth win in the 12-furlong handicap.

Merchant was well fancied off a mark of 90 after winning at York last month, with his trainer William Haggas making an entry for next month’s G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The son of Teofilo, the 3-1 choice in the race, finished strongly once switched out by jockey Tom Marquand, wearing down Serious Contender (7/1) to win by a length. Pantile Warrior (40/1) and Nautical Force (25/1) filled the minor places.

“Merchant did well today and is progressive," Haggas said after the race. "He likes a trip and doesn’t mind the ground. I need to see it again, but he looked a bit fresh early. I think he’s improving and that’s what every trainer wants, a nice improving 3-year-old. Who knows how far he will go, but he is going in the right direction.

“A lot of people don’t understand what trainers go through. Yesterday the horse coughed 10 times at exercise, never coughed before. Then the seeds of doubt come in, the sleepless nights, are we doing the righ) thing, do I tell Harry (Herbert of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing]? No. Yes, we are doing the right thing, we must run, and the horse is fine. Then going into the saddling box, he slipped just as he was going in. He then held his leg – the left-hind – all through saddling, so we went out and trotted him up twice. He seemed alright, but I said to Tom if you’re not happy with him at the start, take him out. We couldn’t tell anyone, we’ve got 50 people here. It is not all plain sailing, so when they win, it is absolutely fantastic. I am thrilled to bits.

“That is complicated (publicizing the above). No one knows why he coughed, but he did, and when they don’t and they suddenly do, it’s a bit of a nerve-wracking situation. I have been doing it a long time; you take a decision, you stick by it and it’s paid off, so we can now drink another glass of sparkling water! I don’t know whether the punters trust us, but I think the Highclere shareholders, Harry and his management team trust us. We will make a decision for the horse’s benefit.”

Marquand said: “I am very impressed. The one thing I would say is that William was very sure on how he wanted me to ride him – and that was with a lot of confidence. It is very easy to do that when you know you have a good horse under you, which we know with this chap. He is improving and has a great mind. Albeit we were back, we had a very smooth passage and William was so right in riding him in that way.

“The King George is a big step up, but he is on that trajectory and the one thing I was very confident in today was his mind. He went down to the start like he was at Chepstow on a Monday, which at Royal Ascot is such a big asset.

“I love riding Royal Ascot winners for anybody but, when they are for the team that support you the whole year round, it means a lot because everybody puts in so much at home.”

Harry Herbert of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing said: “William has always said that Merchant is a very good horse. He hasn’t been given an entry in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes lightly, but that might just be froth.

“That was a very good performance, though. He has come from a long way back and won very convincingly. This is our fifth King George V Stakes win. He fits the profile of other horses we’ve had in the race who have gone on. The normal route might be a Gordon Stakes, a Great Voltigeur Stakes, who knows, maybe a St Leger.

“Merchant has such a good pedigree, bred by Jim Bolger. Jake Warren bought him at Goffs, and we were so excited, hugging and kissing. My phone was ringing and ringing, and I thought, ‘Aargh, who’s that?’ It was William who said, ‘I have just seen you’ve bought that horse. I have never asked before in 33 years, please can I train him?’ And here we are, at Royal Ascot – it’s very special.

“His 8-pound rise from York is a hike, but I think William knows when he’s got a good one on his hands. I haven’t heard him this positive as he is about this horse, and we have had some good ones with him, so let’s hope he goes on.”

Aidan O’Brien said of the runner-up: “Serious Contender is a lovely horse and I am very happy with the way he ran. There will be more to come from him.”

Charles Darwin continues to evolve in Norfolk victory

Aidan O’Brien’s stranglehold on the juvenile races at Royalr Ascot this year continued as Charles Darwin justified his 8-13 favoritism in the Grade 2 Norfolk Stakes on Thursday at Royal Ascot.

The imposing No Nay Never colt traveled powerfully in front under Ryan Moore and, after briefly being joined halfway, lengthened away to win by 2 1/4 lengths.

Wise Approach (10/1), a winner at Ascot earlier this year, finished second, with U.S. raider Sandal’s Song (9/1) taking third after having raced prominently.

Charles Darwin’s winning time of 58.87 seconds was 0.07 outside his sire’s own track record, set in this race in 2013, while it was a third juvenile winner of the meeting for O’Brien after Gstaad and True Love on Wednesday and Thursday.

O'Brien was elated over Charles Darwin's performance.

“Charles Darwin is very fast – a big, powerful, strong horse," he said. "He has a very good mind as well, so he is very exciting. Ryan has always loved him – and everyone at home loves him. He looks like a 4-year-old racing against 2-year-olds.

“We were hoping that he would get a lead. He never sees the front at home in his work. He is always very happy to sit but, but he is very strong and very quick. Ryan does his own thing always. The gates open and he decides, so he was very happy. Ryan said he powered through the line.”

Comparing his formidable team of juveniles, O’Brien said: “Albert Einstein was always something that we have never seen before. Charles Darwin is a sprinter and I don’t know how far he is going to get, whereas the horse (Gstaad) on Tuesday looked like he would get seven and that means he could get a mile.”

Moore also said Charles Darwin's future likely will be one-turn races.

“Charles Darwin is a very professional horse with a super attitude," he said. "He jumped very quick and showed good speed. I was just trying to control him the best I could. They came to me at about the two and a half, so I asked him to go and he picked up well.

“He is a very good horse. He has a good brain and is a very strong, mature two-year-old, another No Nay Never like the filly yesterday. He is doing everything right and I could not be happier with him. He will get six furlongs.”

Charlie Appleby, trainer of runner-up Wise Approach, was looking to the future after the race:

“We felt we were probably drawn on the wrong side, but the most important part of today was for the future. I said to William, ‘today, just drop in, ride the race and get him to finish’. And he did all of that. Finishing second, you take the positives out of it and the positives are that he has run a really good race against a high-class horse in Charles Darwin. There is going to be a nice pot in this horse. He is versatile, five or six, but I think we could probably look to six now and ride a similar sort of race. I think he is learning with racing and doing it the right way around.”

Wathnan Racing’s U.S. adviser Case Clay said Sandal's Song put forth a "valiant effort" to finish third.

"He ran very well," Clay said. "He is a zippy horse and James McDonald said, once he got to the rise, he got a little bit tired. He probably was not used to that. We were beaten by a very good horse, but we are very happy with the effort. We are going to take him back to the U.S .and try to get to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, with a race or two maybe in between.”