Illinois on top in the Queen’s Vase (Megan Coggin)
Ascot Racecourse Press Release
Aidan O’Brien saddled a one-two in the G2 Queen’s Vase as 7/4 favourite Illinois saw off stable-mate Highbury.
A half-brother to Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Danedream, Illinois was ridden near the pace by Ryan Moore, who kicked for home off the final bend. Illinois wandered away from the rail in the straight but Moore galvanised his mount and the duo went on to win by a length and a quarter.
Highbury kept on to take second without looking like catching the winner, with the Jessica Harrington-trained Birdman three quarters of a length further back in third.
This was Moore’s 80th Royal Ascot success, while O’Brien was winning the Queen’s Vase for an eighth time.
O’Brien said: “We felt any of the three could win. Ryan made the decision to ride Illinois, and he had the choice of the King Edward VII Stakes or this race. When Diego Velazquez got routed to the King Edward, this horse got rerouted to here. He is obviously a St Leger-type horse and is going to improve from three to four.
“We will probably take our time with Illinois and let him have the chance to develop the way he wants to. If City Of Troy wasn’t there, he’d probably have been pitched in much steeper, much earlier. Because City Of Troy was there, we were able to lay off those type of horses and give them a chance to mature. That’s what he is, he’s going to be a mile-and-a-half, mile-and-six horse and he’s going to get better from three to four. He is a bit of a baby mentally still, so he might have a little rest now and maybe go to York on the way to the Leger, something like that.
“I think he might have a little bit more class than a Cup horse. His sister won the Arc, so he’s that type. Ryan said he was caught in a position all the way through the race that he would have preferred not to have been in; he was neither up nor back and he wasn’t getting an easy lead. He had to do it tough. He went to the front, then he flattened out – he said the race was over, then he had to ask him to come again. He probably learnt a lot today.
“Highbury is only a baby and we didn’t know what to expect, but obviously he’s a good horse. Wayne said he was very babyish through the race, and will have come on a lot. He’s probably a nice horse as well, probably a Leger-type horse.”
On Moore’s latest landmark, O’Brien said: “What can I say about Ryan that hasn’t already been said? He is an unbelievable man.”
Moore said: “Illinois has plenty of talent. He is doing a few things wrong still. At Lingfield, he hung right so we thought it would suit him coming here today, but he hung left with me. He has a good engine, he’ll keep improving and is a real nice staying horse.
When asked whether he would be a Gold Cup horse in time, Moore added: “I wouldn’t say he has to go that far. I think he’ll get a bit more professional and you’ll see a better horse. He doesn’t need to go that far yet.”
Birdman’s trainer Jessica Harrington said: “I am delighted with him as he is still very green. I thought he was going to pick up, but maybe the ground was a little bit quick for him. It was a big step forward. He is entered in the Curragh Cup but we could look at a three-year-old-only race, something like the Gordon Stakes.”
