Copper Horse Handicap

WILLIE Mullins has long held high hopes of a big flat campaign for Vauban and the Susannah Ricci-owned five-year-old kicked that off in no uncertain terms when dismantling an assessment of 101 to win the Copper Horse Handicap.

In doing so, he completed a first day treble for Ryan Moore, and despite a yawning seven-and-a-half-length winning margin, was subject of rave reviews from Mullins after the race. Moore took up the running after a furlong on the evens favourite and it always looked ominous for their rivals. Vauban lengthened away, with stablemate Absurde coming through to second and Cemhaan third.

“Ryan had to go to Plan B, and it worked very well,” Mullins said of his ninth winner at Royal Ascot. “He was very brave – he felt that there wasn’t enough pace, so he said ‘I’m going to make the running here’ and he did and stacked them up behind him. Then he just loosened it out for the last six furlongs and you could see him winding it up, winding it up.

“That’s the measure of what Ryan is able to do - he’s able to change his mind. When he saw what was happening, he said, right, Plan B.”

Moore, riding his 76th Royal Ascot winner in total, said: “I didn’t expect to be in front, but I got him out [of the stalls] okay and nobody else wanted to be in front. They told me he stays very well and I felt I had to keep building the pace. He got into a good rhythm and stretched all the way to the line. He’s a very smart horse. He won a listed race on the flat in France and he was in a handicap here, and he’s done what he’s done jumping. I’d say today was a bit of a shock to him making the running, but he got the job done very well.”

There was plenty of talk of a Melbourne Cup after the race, which Mullins acknowledged but said he hadn’t a set plan for the horse. He was made a general 7/1 favourite for the race that stops a nation. The Ebor, with prize money of £500,000, is another potential target and he is 4/1 favourite for that.

Rated 160 after a strong first season in open company over hurdles, he was winning here off a flat mark of 101, but can expect to go up 10-12lbs considering how impressive he was.

Ascot Stakes

MOTHER to be Ahorsewithnoname (7/1) closed off her career in spectacular fashion by winning the Ascot Stakes for Nicky Henderson and William Buick.

The eight-year-old mare is in foal to Cracksman and this was always going to be her final run. She has spent the majority of her career over hurdles but has an excellent record on the flat - this was her fifth win in seven starts, while she also finished fifth in a Cesarewitch.

She was given a fine ride from Buick, who hugged the rail in around seventh or eighth position throughout the two-and-a-half-mile contest, and bravely kept to that route up the straight, his mare eventually getting on top of the Richard Hughes-trained Calling The Wind with Alan King’s Tritonic back in third.

Less pressure

“There was less pressure today,” Henderson replied when asked to compare his fourth Royal Ascot success to the Cheltenham Festival. “I don’t just say that because it’s a flat race – after all it is Royal Ascot and a big day in anyone’s life – but it’s not the Champion Hurdle with the pressure you get in that.

“William gave her a beautiful ride. She had a dream run and the rain last night helped her. I’ve been saying Cracksman probably helped more than anyone. It definitely changed her – she’s much sharper. She was a laid-back filly but, since her visit to Newmarket at Dalham Hall Stud, it has woken her up a bit.

“It’s been a tried-and-tested route, but you can only do it once and you have just 90 days in which to do it. On some mares it might have the opposite effect and they go all dreamy and mummy, but not her.”