Royal Ascot: Ombudsman stands tall in Prince of Wales's

Ombudsman opened his Group 1 account in scintillating fashion as he overcame trouble to claim the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday at Royal Ascot.

Held up by William Buick, the son of Night of Thunder, sent off at 7-1, was forced to switch paths a couple of times in the straight but, once in the clear, stormed home to beat last year’s Champion Stakes winner Anmaat by two lengths.

See The Fire (7/2) was two and a half lengths further back in third, while the 13-8 favorite Los Angeles came home fifth after tracking the strong pace set by his stablemate Continuous.

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Ombudsman has now won five of his six starts for John and Thady Gosden, with the 4-year-old Godolphin colt’s sole defeat coming at the hands of Almaqam in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes (G3) at Sandown Park last month.

This was a 70th Royal Ascot success for John Gosden, who already has four winners on the board at this year’s meeting alongside his son and co-trainer Thady.

John Gosden said: “The plan was to just relax off the pace, which was strong and set up for Los Angeles, who is a real dour, long-striding staying horse, but to that extent we knew we’d be comfortable where we were. It was just the question of when you get in the straight, would you get the luck? William wasn’t in a position where he could swing around the field; it was more a case of waiting for the gap. And he was very patient, but I knew when he got a gap at the furlong pole, that this horse has an extraordinary turn of foot. So he was patient and he was rewarded.

“I think it is all down the owner Sheikh Mohammed, because when we bought him with Anthony Stroud, I said, ‘look, he’s an immature horse, give me a chance with him’, and he said, ‘take as long as you like’. Sheikh Mohammed is without doubt the easiest owner I’ve ever trained for. Now Ombudsman has fully grown and developed – a proper four-year-old –the owner is getting rewarded. When you are a trainer, it’s very nice to train for people who aren’t putting the pressure on.

“Ombudsman is a mile-and-a-quarter horse. William said he has a lot of speed. He has a wonderful turn of foot and has done nothing but grow in stature. I think we had him spot on. He is a horse who, because he hasn’t over-raced this year, you could be looking at the Eclipse with.”

Buick said: “This place tames lions. It is so special to win here because it’s so tough. Everyone comes here in great form and everyone is doing their very best, of course.

“Ombudsman was stepping up in grade today. I rode him at home and he was really well. He’d have been a very unlucky loser, wouldn’t he? I was looking for room and had to switch him a couple of times, but he has won with a bit in hand. I was very impressed with what he did there and he picked up instantly from me having to switch his course.

“I think for the moment he is a fast mile-and-a-quarter horse. That was a strong run mile and a quarter, they went hard, and he has a great turn of foot. I am sure stepping him up to a mile and a half will be spoken about, but I wouldn’t have thought that discussion would need to be had just yet.”

Owen Burrows said of Anmaat: “No real excuses. He has run an absolute blinder again. He has come there to win, and credit to John’s horse, who just picked up a bit better than us. We know that he has a preference for a bit of juice in the ground, but Jim (Crowley) said I can’t make that as an excuse. Possibly he can quicken on softer ground when others perhaps can’t. But as I say, I’m not making any excuses. The Eclipse has been mentioned, but we will just see how he comes out of this. York, Irish Champion. … I think back here in October is probably his main aim because, all being well, we should have juice in the ground.”

See The Fire’s jockey Oisin Murphy said: “That was a career-best. The race set up for a closer – it was an end-to-end gallop. A good run.”