King’s Stand Stakes (Group 1)

WITH leaders again going hard in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes, the race was set up for a whirlwind finish, and it was 2020 July Cup hero Oxted who finished strongest to give both Roger Teal and Cieren Fallon their first Royal Ascot victories in a thrilling contest.

Oxted attracted plenty of pre-race support, going off the clear second favourite at 4/1 behind Battaash, and while the race was run to suit him, he was clearly right back to his best to run out a one-and-three-quarter-length winner from another fast finisher in the shape of Robert Cowell’s galvanised Arecibo (Jamie Spencer).

A neck behind the runner-up was Brendan Walsh’s Al Quoz Sprint winner Extravagant Kid, who edged out a tiring Battaash for place money.

Oxted benefited from the drop to five furlongs, the faster pace helping to settle as he has compromised his chance more than once since the July Cup by over-racing.

He got a little outpaced in the first half, but the pace was always likely to tell late, and his stamina told as he hit top gear just as the speedballs were beginning to flag.

He can mix it between five and six for the rest of the season, with another crack at the July Cup an obvious next step before Teal, ably assisted by son Harry, decides whether to tackle the Nunthorpe or the Sprint Cup with his star.

Arecibo had a well-earned reputation as a serial loser in handicaps, and one or two raised an eyebrow when Tom Morley paid 50,000gns for him from David O’Meara’s yard. That has turned out to be a bargain, with the six-year-old winning twice at Newmarket, and producing a career best in second here.

Praise

He looks a much more enthusiastic performer for the switch of regimes, and both Morley and Robert Cowell deserve plenty of praise for spotting and nurturing that potential when others would have steered clear.

Battaash was well-backed, going off at 11/8 having been a general 2/1 in the morning, and he ran well, but he didn’t quite get home, and Jim Crowley unsurprisingly reported that he felt in need of the race.

Cieren Fallon’s father rode 30 winners at the meeting, so the young rider was thrilled to get his own name on the Ascot wall, and he could barely hide his glee.

“It’s a dream come true – a Group 1 at Royal Ascot. All credit goes to Roger, Harry, and the team. I’ve been very blessed and very lucky to sit on a horse like this so early in my career. Harry does all the hard work on him behind the scenes, I’m just very lucky to be on him on the racetrack.

“Oxted has a lot of speed and can run keen over six furlongs. Dropping back to a stiff five was always going to suit and I took my time on him today.

“I got a lovely trip; they went a real solid gallop early on. Normally he’s a horse that can be quite keen, but I just gave him his head, let him get into a nice rhythm and just picked up when I needed to. He’s just shown that the July Cup isn’t a fluke. He is a proper Group 1 horse.”