Warm Heart continues her ascent and takes the Ribblesdale under Ryan Moore (Megan Ridgwell)
Ascot Racecourse Press Release
Warm Heart (13/2) continued her climb through the ranks with an emphatic two-and-a-half-length success in the G2 Ribblesdale Stakes for Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien.
The daughter of Galileo has now won her last three starts, following a maiden win at Leopardstown and a Listed victory at Newbury.
Lumiere Rock stayed on strongly from off the pace to take second, just ahead of Bluestocking, who took a while to warm to her task but put in some good late work.
O’Brien said: “Ryan gave Warm Heart a lovely ride and I’m delighted with her. She ran a very good race at Newbury the last day and we weren’t sure whether the trip would be too far for her. Ryan planned to take his time with her today, to find a handy position and wait as long as possible.
“Ryan is brilliant, an incredible fella. He must be nearly 40, but every year he gets better. He gets better because he puts so much in day in and day out. When he comes over [to Ireland] he stays with us and runs six or seven miles every morning before he sits on a horse. He’s so fit, so focused and so committed, and when you ask him a question all the information comes out about the horse, the ride, the ground. He’s an incredible horseman, very cool under pressure and a total professional. We’re so lucky to have him.
Talking about the filly, he added: “Warm Heart ran at Newbury over a mile and a quarter and we thought that was maybe as far as she was going to get. We didn’t know when she got to the front today whether she would run out of stamina, but obviously we saw she probably doesn’t want to get to the front too early.
“She got the trip very well today and Ryan gave her a beautiful ride. She’s out of a great mare and usually those fillies with good pedigrees do improve – physically she’s doing great.”
Moore said: “In Warm Heart’s previous race they went real hard, while in this race they didn’t. She’s a very straightforward filly and it all worked out.
“It’s very hard here and you need the little things to work for you. Sometimes the ball bounces for you and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s racing.
“She’s definitely a better filly today [compared to her previous run at Newbury]. It was up to a mile and a half, but it wasn’t strongly run race so we haven’t answered the question [of whether she truly stays the longer trip] but she’s won a lovely prize today.”
3.40pm Ribblesdale Stakes (Group 2)
- Warm Heart (S Magnier, M Tabor, D Smith, Westerberg) Aidan O’Brien IRE 3-9-02 Ryan Moore 13/2
- Lumiere Rock (Michael O’Flynn) Joseph O’Brien IRE 3-9-02 James McDonald 14/1
- Bluestocking (Juddmonte) Ralph Beckett 3-9-02 Frankie Dettori 9/2
17 ran 5/6 fav Al Asifah (6th)
Aidan O’Brien – 84th Royal Ascot winner
Ryan Moore – 77th Royal Ascot winner
