Ombudsman wins the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (credit: Megan Rose Photography)
Royal Ascot Press Release
Ombudsman (11/10F) became only the fourth horse to win back-to-back editions of the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes after producing a stunning display in the 10-furlong showpiece.
Held up off the gallop set by tearaway leaders Mississippi River and Devil’s Advocate, William Buick waited until the home straight before pulling Ombudsman out towards the middle of the track.
Minnie Hauk and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero Daryz were bang there as well two furlongs out, but they had no answer to Ombudsman’s finishing surge. The winning distance was four lengths to Minnie Hauk (15/2), with Daryz (2/1) a length and three-quarters further back in third.
Ombudsman’s co-trainer John Gosden also saddled Muhtarram to successive Prince Of Wales’s Stakes victories in 1994 and 1995. The other dual winners are Connaught (1969 & 1970) and Mtoto (1987 & 1988).
Gosden said: “Aidan [O’Brien] had a pacemaker and we thought we’d have ours doing what we wanted to do as well. They wound up meeting coming into the bend and off the bend, so they obviously agreed on the pace.
“Devil’s Advocate, with a furlong to go, I thought they were going to have to go a bit, but Ombudsman has got a phenomenal turn of foot – great acceleration for a mile-and-a-quarter horse. He just showed that class. It is quite something to come away from a field like that.
“The filly ran great, the Arc winner ran great, and probably the horse who won in Ireland [Almaqam] might not have run his race today because he’d usually be in the shake-up. But overall, I thought it was one of the great performances of Ombudsman’s career.
“We will watch him and see where we go. The Juddmonte International will be a major target, of course, as he likes York. We are very lucky to have some wonderful owners who send us those top-class horses because, let me tell you, you can’t train empty boxes.
“Ombudsman is right up there now with what he’s done, but you’re talking about Enable, you know, she won everything. He is a lovely horse and he’ll make a good stallion. He’s got all the right things; he’s got a good mind as well as a fabulous body and great strength.”
Buick said: “We thought Ombudsman came here in good shape. He was faultless going into Dubai in the spring and had a good prep in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown, which was a stepping stone to coming here. Every step of the way he was perfect, so there was a great deal of expectation, of course. Conditions were here to suit him, but I don’t think you can ever expect a performance quite like that.
“You had a good pace to follow and three or four good horses that you expected to be to the fore. We were all together; essentially there were only three or four lengths between myself and Minnie Hauk, so I think it was a truly run race and one where the form will hold up. We had great respect for Daryz, Minnie Hauk was so good last year and Almaqam was so good in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, so we had huge respect for the opposition. But again, with Ombudsman, we have great belief in him and all he can do. Today, he pleasantly surprised me a little with how well he did it and the feel he gave me. He was exceptional – it’s very rare for a horse to do what he did.
“He is a lovely horse to deal with, a real character. John and Thady have brought him along beautifully. Nearly every season he’s raced, he’s got stronger and better, and he’s probably now the finished article. From the back end of last year to now, he’s really progressed. He’s a special horse and can do things that very few horses can.”
“Royal Ascot is the biggest week of the year in our sport – great atmosphere, great racing. It’s so competitive and winners aren’t easy to come by; you have to fight for them. The Prince of Wales’s is one of the showcase races of the week and, on top of that, to ride a horse like Ombudsman and for him to put in a performance like he did is very, very special.”
Asked what Frankie Dettori said to him after the race, Buick added: “Frankie said, ‘Well done’. He knows what it’s like, and it was great to see him. I am not quite at the tally of winners that he’s at, but we keep trying. This is a super week. This is where you want to be, this is where you want to be riding winners.”
Minnie Hauk’s trainer Aidan O’Brien said: “We are delighted. We thought what happened the last day was that she’s really a mile-and-a-half filly, and over a mile and a quarter she wanted an end-to-end gallop. Obviously, that was going to suit the winner as well. She’s so straightforward. Ryan rode her very confidently, like there was no doubt about anything today. He said she kept travelling from the three to the two, while the winner had a little bit more speed than her over a mile and a quarter. The lads will decide what they want to do, but I’d say something like the King George, one more run and then the Arc. That would work very well. This was the perfect prep for the King George today.”
Francis-Henri Graffard said of Daryz: “I don’t know what to say, he just didn’t have a very good run. They had these two pacemakers that went forward quite clear and my horse was not covered; he never really relaxed and had a chance to take a breath. I don’t think he relaxed through the race; he was out of his rhythm all the time, and that’s why he shortened up his action at the end. Ombudsman had a perfect run and didn’t have to make any effort up to entering the straight, while we had to make an effort all the time. That’s the way the race went. We didn’t see the Daryz of Longchamp, when he was nice and relaxed and quickened really strongly. Today, he was not like that.
