Rashabar held off the late challenge of Wathnan Racing duo Electrolyte and Columnist to claim the Coventry Stakes in a desperately tight finish; it was Billy Loughnane's first Royal Ascot winner, aged just 18
Tuesday 18 June 2024 17:23, UK
Rosallion came out on top in the eagerly-anticipated clash of three 2000 Guineas winners in the St James’s Palace Stakes, as he lived up to all of Richard Hannon’s billing as the best horse he has ever trained.
Hannon has not been shy in making it known how highly he regards his colt, although he could have been forgiven if his confidence had been slightly dented when he was beaten by Notable Speech at Newmarket.
In accounting for stablemate Haatem in the Irish Guineas he as expected got back on track, and duly lined up against a very deep field in the day one highlight at Royal Ascot.
Aidan O'Brien's Breeders' Cup winner Unquestionable set the pace, with fellow Ballydoyle runner Henry Longfellow just in behind, while William Buick dropped Notable Speech out in the rear.
Rosallion (5/2) was briefly trapped in behind horses as Darlinghurst was on his outside, but Sean Levey waited for the right time to press the button and once in the clear he showed an electrifying turn of foot to chase Ryan Moore and Henry Longfellow down.
Henry Longfellow stuck on well for second and was only beaten a neck, with three lengths back to French Guineas winner Metropolitan. But the big disappointment of the race was the 6-4 favourite Notable Speech, who never really threatened to get in a serious blow.
Hannon said: "Quite often you call these horses something that they're not, because you want them to be the best horse you've trained - and quite often you are disappointed. That's an occupational hazard. But this lad has never let me down. That one day at Doncaster (Champagne Stakes)… I still can't explain it. I don't know how we messed it up, but that's behind us now.
"He's in the Sussex (at Goodwood), he's in all those big races, and I can't wait. He's already done enough for me if he never does another… It's not about being proven right either, it's about the work that goes into these horses from everybody at home. We've been watching him all winter, this kind of makes it a shorter winter."
Levey added: "I think once I had him out in the open I always thought I would pick the leader up. This horse really has to have something to aim at, I think he showed that at the Curragh. As soon as I got him out, there was always going to be plenty in the tank.
"I just really hope that one day they go a really good gallop so that we get to see him really show his true potential.
"It means the world to me, and everyone at home, there is a lot of work that goes into this horse.
"I always said I always had great belief in the horse. I always hoped he would be that horse I've been waiting for all my career. People say to me you remember the horse along with who rode it."
Rashabar held off the late challenge of Wathnan Racing duo Electrolyte and Columnist to claim the Coventry Stakes in a desperately tight finish, in the process returning some very famous silks to the Royal Ascot winner's enclosure.
Brian Meehan's charge had not managed to get his head in front in his first two appearances, despite promising displays at Newbury and Chester, but the Holy Roman Emperor colt - in the colours associated for so long with the late Robert Sangster - had just enough in the tank to score as an 80/1 winner by a nose.
Under the guidance of teenager Billy Loughnane, Rashabar led a group of eight on the far rail, bursting ahead inside the final furlong and stretching his advantage to over a length as he looked to have a clear route to the finishing line.
Electrolyte (Hollie Doyle) and Columnist (Oisín Orr) finished strongly, however, and rapidly reduced Rashabar's lead, but the winning post came just in time as Loughnane, 18, celebrated his first career winner at the Royal meeting by the smallest of margins.
Meehan said: "Dare I say it, it's not a huge surprise. He's felt very good since Chester, everything has gone very well with him throughout. Sean Levey said that when a horse runs around Chester it's like having two runs, they learn so much, especially a two-year-old that had only run once before.
"We've felt really good the past few weeks, we were always aiming for here. There was a thought in my head throughout that he was never going to be a five-furlong horse, but we want to get two runs for our two-year-olds before Ascot. I didn't think he'd win over five, but he ran very well, better than I thought, and at Chester he was badly drawn and had he not missed the break he'd have won. The form has worked out very well.
"We're very lucky that we get to use Billy when we can. He's a great kid with a lovely way about him, he's wonderful with people and the world is his oyster."
Asked how special it was to win the race with a horse carrying these colours, Meehan said: "It is. You can try to keep a lid on things now, but we'll draw breath in an hour or so and take some pleasure out of it.
"Right now it's just about showing what we can do, the team at home, the early mornings, the late nights, everything that's done, the talking, the thinking and the working it out. It's just very special."
Loughnane said: "It's an amazing feeling, to be doing it so young is massive. I was second in one of the races last year, I was beaten a couple of lengths. It was hard as I'm so young and it was my first Ascot, but when I look back on it it was a great achievement to even be riding at Ascot at 17 years old.
"What a feeling today, I'll try to savour every moment.
"I've worn these silks a few times, I've ridden quite a bit for Brian and Manton, they're colours with a deep history and to be able to put them on is a great achievement."
Rashabar runs in the name of Manton Thoroughbreds, and Sangster's son, Sam, was emotional as he said: "I'm pretty much in tears behind my sunglasses, it was amazing. Brian has believed in the horse from day one and I really did feel we had a big chance.
"There was a reason I set the syndicate up 10 years ago, to keep the colours going. We have a lot of runners, it's been fantastic in the last couple of years. We had Isaac Shelby last year and this fellow this year. I'm a bit lost for words and emotional, especially when you talk about the colours and my old man."
Archie Watson said of the runner-up: "I got beat a neck across the track in the race with Army Ethos last year and we've got beat a nose in the race across the track this year.
"I guess it's fantastic to be sent these horses from Wathnan, he ran a huge race and he's going to be a proper two-year-old. I'm gutted, but delighted - the main thing is the horse ran well.
"I guess James [Doyle] had the choice between the three [Wathnan horses] and that had a bearing on his odds, but I think we've now had a third, a winner and two seconds in this race in the last three years."
Richard Fahey's Columnist was the third horse, and Wathnan's racing adviser Richard Brown added: "It's Archie I feel sorry for, but both have won fantastic races and we're delighted.
"There's a good team here from Qatar and none of us are under any illusions about how tough it is to win at Ascot and that race goes to show it.
"Well done to Brian Meehan and his team, it was a great race and ours have performed with great credit. It's mixed emotions, but we've got two very nice horses to look forward to.
"This project isn't just about Ascot, it's also about the future and that shows we have two nice horses to go to war with for the rest of the season."
