Royal Ascot 2024

[Flanders]

Ultima Grace, daughter of American Pharoah is racing in the Queen Mary: There are 26 horses in this race!

Prominent early; weakened late. Hopefully the rest of Ward's horses will fair better.

She finished 20th. Yikes.

I know this is a complaint repeated yearly, but WHY does Wesley Ward use American jockeys at RA?

Wonder if that is one of the reasons he said in an article that his owners don't want to go to RA anymore. I guess he convinced a couple but he'd be taking his whole stable if the owners went with it. I mean who wants to pay to ship a horse that far, only to get a bad ride?

[Northport]

What I find weird is that he isn't even particularly loyal to a single American jockey year to year when it comes to Royal Ascot. He's used Rosario, Velasquez, Ortiz, etc. over the years. At least he is consistent with just Rosario this year I guess?

For a guy who pioneered a method that Europe has now caught onto and is using to beat him, you'd think he'd try to get an edge by using local jockeys.

[Squeaky]

Prominent early; weakened late. Hopefully the rest of Ward's horses will fair better.

She finished 20th. Yikes.

I know this is a complaint repeated yearly, but WHY does Wesley Ward use American jockeys at RA?

Wonder if that is one of the reasons he said in an article that his owners don't want to go to RA anymore. I guess he convinced a couple but he'd be taking his whole stable if the owners went with it. I mean who wants to pay to ship a horse that far, only to get a bad ride?

The shine seems to be off the “Wesley Ward Wins at Royal Ascot “ angle

[Eohippus]

She finished 20th. Yikes.

I know this is a complaint repeated yearly, but WHY does Wesley Ward use American jockeys at RA?

Wonder if that is one of the reasons he said in an article that his owners don't want to go to RA anymore. I guess he convinced a couple but he'd be taking his whole stable if the owners went with it. I mean who wants to pay to ship a horse that far, only to get a bad ride?

The shine seems to be off the “Wesley Ward Wins at Royal Ascot “ angle

And TBF to Grace she only won one allowance, the Royal Ascot in a 26 horse field is a big ask for a second start imo. I can’t help but root hard for an American Pharoah foal also even when I don’t see them having a chance

[Eohippus]

That said, very happy for Running Lion as a fan of her sire

[Squeaky]

Did anyone just see jockey Osein Murphy get off his horse, adjust the bridle, then get back on from the ground with no help and no stirrup. I have not seen that before- very athletic. Shouldn’t there be a worker available to help with these type of things without the jockey having to get off, and then someone to give him a leg up?

[Squeaky]

He won! Happy for Saeed they said he doesn’t have many horses anymore.

[HB1994]

Did anyone just see jockey Osein Murphy get off his horse, adjust the bridle, then get back on from the ground with no help and no stirrup. I have not seen that before- very athletic. Shouldn’t there be a worker available to help with these type of things without the jockey having to get off, and then someone to give him a leg up?

With 29 horses in the field, I guess jockeys have to help themselves.

The Sky announcers cracked a joke about Oisin knowing how to do his own tack since he started show jumping.

[barbaro111]

Wonder if that is one of the reasons he said in an article that his owners don't want to go to RA anymore. I guess he convinced a couple but he'd be taking his whole stable if the owners went with it. I mean who wants to pay to ship a horse that far, only to get a bad ride?

The shine seems to be off the “Wesley Ward Wins at Royal Ascot “ angle

And TBF to Grace she only won one allowance, the Royal Ascot in a 26 horse field is a big ask for a second start imo. I can’t help but root hard for an American Pharoah foal also even when I don’t see them having a chance

I was wondering before the race, why he brought UG to RA off one race-
To face 26 horses --- I always root for any offspring of Anerican Pharoah.--

[Squeaky]

Must have been quite the sight seeing almost 30 horses thunder by

[Flanders]

The shine seems to be off the “Wesley Ward Wins at Royal Ascot “ angle

And TBF to Grace she only won one allowance, the Royal Ascot in a 26 horse field is a big ask for a second start imo. I can’t help but root hard for an American Pharoah foal also even when I don’t see them having a chance

I was wondering before the race, why he brought UG to RA off one race-
To face 26 horses --- I always root for any offspring of Anerican Pharoah.--

The other one is even more puzzling. He has Honorary American in the Windsor Stakes later today who hasn't even won yet, he was 3rd in a maiden. Racing in a stakes vs 27 other horses(one scratched or would have been 28).

[barbaro111]

And TBF to Grace she only won one allowance, the Royal Ascot in a 26 horse field is a big ask for a second start imo. I can’t help but root hard for an American Pharoah foal also even when I don’t see them having a chance

I was wondering before the race, why he brought UG to RA off one race-
To face 26 horses --- I always root for any offspring of Anerican Pharoah.--

The other one is even more puzzling. He has Honorary American in the Windsor Stakes later today who hasn't even won yet, he was 3rd in a maiden. Racing in a stakes vs 27 other horses(one scratched or would have been 28).

I am thinking he loves Royal Ascot and wants to be part of the racing program
Regardless of whether he believes his horses have a chance to be really competitive

[Squeaky]

I was wondering before the race, why he brought UG to RA off one race-
To face 26 horses --- I always root for any offspring of Anerican Pharoah.--

The other one is even more puzzling. He has Honorary American in the Windsor Stakes later today who hasn't even won yet, he was 3rd in a maiden. Racing in a stakes vs 27 other horses(one scratched or would have been 28).

I am thinking he loves Royal Ascot and wants to be part of the racing program
Regardless of whether he believes his horses have a chance to be really competitive

As long as his wealthy owners understand that they are there for the pageantry and the spectacle vs having any real hope of winning or even placing, I guess I am ok with it.

[Northport]

Okay, I will defend Ward on that front. It’s June, most of the horses in the 2 year old fields only have 1 or two starts, and a ton of them are still maidens. That is why the fields have 25-30 horses in them, because literally all of them are unexposed and could improve. And because literally all of them have connections that want to take part in Royal Ascot and are willing to roll the dice.

[Eohippus]

Okay, I will defend Ward on that front. It’s June, most of the horses in the 2 year old fields only have 1 or two starts, and a ton of them are still maidens. That is why the fields have 25-30 horses in them, because literally all of them are unexposed and could improve. And because literally all of them have connections that want to take part in Royal Ascot and are willing to roll the dice.

So basically the UK version of the Kentucky Derby?

[Northport]

Okay, I will defend Ward on that front. It’s June, most of the horses in the 2 year old fields only have 1 or two starts, and a ton of them are still maidens. That is why the fields have 25-30 horses in them, because literally all of them are unexposed and could improve. And because literally all of them have connections that want to take part in Royal Ascot and are willing to roll the dice.

So basically the UK version of the Kentucky Derby?

Well, not really, haha. There are 6 races for two year olds from 5f to 7f, and no qualifications for any of them, except the Chesham (restricted to horses whose sire or dam have won over a distance longer than 1 3/16 miles). So the numbers are much bigger. And there is 1/6th the amount of form to go off of than the Derby.

The prestige and chucking spaghetti at the wall is similar though, I guess.

[Starine]

Glad to see Auguste Rodin get back on track. I don't think he'll ever be a horse that will win by much more than necessary but he is generally workmanlike.

Still hoping he starts on dirt in the Breeders' Cup Classic later this year. O'Brien certainly gushed last year about how he moved over it.

[Squeaky]

Glad to see Auguste Rodin get back on track. I don't think he'll ever be a horse that will win by much more than necessary but he is generally workmanlike.

Still hoping he starts on dirt in the Breeders' Cup Classic later this year. O'Brien certainly gushed last year about how he moved over it.

Maybe if he can stay close to the front and avoid kickback . He is a quirky horse and I could see him pulling himself up he takes too much dirt in his face.,

[firehorse]

Glad to see Auguste Rodin get back on track. I don't think he'll ever be a horse that will win by much more than necessary but he is generally workmanlike.

Still hoping he starts on dirt in the Breeders' Cup Classic later this year. O'Brien certainly gushed last year about how he moved over it.

I have no doubt he would have won last year, I was surprised he didn't run him given the chances hes taken in the past, he looked just like Sunday Silence on that track...... but Del Mar is different and some horses don't like it as much... hope he does.

[Flanders]

As much as I'd like to see him in the Classic, I truly can't see Coolmore racing all 3 against each other in the Classic, which means City of Troy and Sierra Leone go Classic and Auguste Rodin goes Turf.