Fairy Godmother produces magical performance in the Albany
The Aidan O’Brien-trained Fairy Godmother (2 f ex Night Of Thunder – Scintilating by Siyouni) produced one of the performances of the week so far, coming well off the pace to land the Albany Stakes (Gr 3, 6f) at Royal Ascot, under typically masterful ride by Ryan Moore.
The daughter of Night Of Thunder (Dubawi) was sent off the well-backed favourite after breaking her maiden at the second time of asking in the Fillies Sprint Stakes (Gr 3, 6f) at Naas on May 19, also coming from the back on that occasion.
The turn of foot she showed on her previous start must have given Moore confidence when he stuck out the back and he went in search for gaps, with the door consistently slammed in his face.
With time running out, the filly was finally delivered a gap and responded by effortlessly exploding past her rivals to eventually beat the Ollie Sangster-trained Simmering (Too Darn Hot) by three-quarters of a length, a shade cosily in the end. Heavens Gate (Churchill), the winner’s stable companion, came home another neck further adrift in third.
Following the performance, Fairy Godmother was subsequently shortened to 5-1 (from 12) with Paddy Power for next year’s English 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) at Newmarket.
“I gave her an impossible task but she got me out of a hole,” Moore said of the Fairy Godmother, who traded at 25-1 in running. “I kind of wanted to be towards the stands’ side a little bit. It was incredible that she was able to win from that position and all credit to her, she’s a very good filly.
“Down at the start she looked different class and she suggested that before she ran and when she won the last time. That was a big performance.”
O’Brien was enjoying his fifth winner of the week and 90th overall at the royal meeting and he was quick to heap praise on Moore, who was enjoying his fifth winner of the week and 84th at Royal Ascot.
“Ryan was unbelievably patient with her and he snuck across. He went into a gap that wasn’t there, he came back out and went into another gap that wasn’t there, and he came back again. He never took anything out of her and it was masterful stuff.
“She’s an incredible filly. She’s very good and the lads loved her at the sales. Her work has always been very special and the first time we couldn’t believe she got beat.”
A 425,000gns purchase at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for Coolmore’s MV Magnier, Fairy Godmother is out of the winning mare Scintilating (Siyouni), who is herself a half-sister to Group 2 winner Prolific (Compton Place) and stakes winner Deal Breaker (Night Shift).
Night Of Thunder shuttled to Australia for one season in 2016 and he is standing at Darley’s Kildangan Stud in Ireland for a fee of €100,000 (approx. AU$162,900).
Porta Fortuna cements class in Coronation Stakes
Porta Fortuna (3 f Caravaggio – Too Precious by Holy Roman Emperor) provided her trainer Donnacha O’Brien with his first Royal Ascot when scoring in the Albany Stakes 12 months ago and she doubled her handler’s tally on Friday when impressively winning the Coronation Stakes (Gr 1, 1m).
Having been defeated by just a neck in the English 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m), the three-year-old daughter of Caravaggio (Scat Daddy) comprehensively turned around the form with the Guineas one-two Elmalka (Kingman) and Ramatuelle (Justify), when she defeated Opera Singer (Justify), who is trained by Donnacha’s father, Aidan, by a length under Tom Marquand. The Christopher Head-trained Ramatuelle a further length and a half further back in third place.
The victory was Porta Fortuna’s second at the elite level following her success in last year’s Cheveley Park Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) at Newmarket.
“She’s so uncomplicated, Tom gave her a lovely ride, I was happy the whole way and everything went to plan,” the winning trainer said. “It’s not too often you can say that so I’m delighted.
“All along, she hasn’t got the credit she deserves. She’s never missed a beat, she had two runs before Royal Ascot last year and has literally never missed a race since.
“Newmarket is tough, there are a few ridges, they go a hard gallop and there are no hiding places. I think a mile is probably her maximum because she’s got so much speed.
“On a turning track like this, Tom was able to sit on her and use that turn of foot that she has.”
“She’s incredibly sound, incredibly tough. It’s a testament to all the team at home.”
“Races like the Falmouth might be in the plan; the owners are an American group so I’d say an end-of-year plan would be the Breeders’ Cup.”
Marquand, who was riding his sixth Royal Ascot winner overall, was quick to praise the filly.
“She made it extremely easy,” he said. “She’s such a cool customer, she had that near miss in the Guineas and didn’t really show much of a turn of foot that day, she looked like a grinder, but on this flatter surface, with something to aim at, she was electric from the two.
“These rides are hard enough to come by, let alone to keep them and I’m very fortunate to be on board her today.
“Donnacha and the team’s family are woven into racing history but they are a young team, in reality, so to be on one for them is fantastic.”
Porta Fortuna is the first foal out of the winning Holy Roman Emperor (Danehill) mare Too Precious, herself a sister to Numerian, a three-time Group 2 winner in Australia.
Calandagan blasts his rivals away in King Edwards VII
French raider Calandagan (3 g Gleneagles – Calayana by Sinndar) turned the King Edward VII Stakes (Gr 2, 1m 4f) into a procession, scooting away from his rivals to impressively land the Group 2 on the penultimate day of the royal meeting. Trained by Francis Graffard for owner breeders The Aga Khan, Calandagan came into the race off the back of a pair of Group 3 wins at Longchamp. He continued his picket fence form when beating the William Haggas-trained Space Legend (Sea The Stars) by a widening six lengths. Royal Supremacy (Make Believe) came home a further length and three-quarters away in third. The son of Coolmore stallion Gleneagles (Galileo) is out of Group 3-placed mare Calayana (Sinndar). The win provided Graffard with his second win at Royal Ascot, having saddled Watch Me (Olympic Glory) to victory in the Coronation Stakes in 2019, while Stephane Pasquier was also enjoying his second winner at the meeting adding to his victory onboard Manduro (Monsun) in the 2007 Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f).
Crystal Black hands the Keanes a day to remember
Colin Keane provided his father Gerard with a first success at Royal Ascot when the rider steered the progressive Crystal Black (Teofilo) to victory in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes (1m 4f) on Friday. The son of Teofilo (Galileo) went into the race on a three-win streak and he kept the winning thread alive when he beat Epic Poet (Lope De Vega) by a decisive two and a quarter lengths. Harry Eustace saddled his third-placed horse of this year’s meeting with Ziggy (Sixties Icon) finishing another neck away in third. Crystal Black is raced by Wear A Pink Ribbon Syndicate who have quite the backstory. With members including a farmer, builder and transport company manager, the syndicate was put together to fundraise for cancer after a friend, Breda Miley, was diagnosed. She died shortly after but the syndicate continues in her memory. The syndicate, including the late Miley, raced the Willie Mullins-trained True Self (Oscar), winner of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 3, 2600m) at Flemington in 2020. “We’ve been to Melbourne before with True Self, but I don’t know whether he’ll go back with this horse yet. I haven’t had time to catch my breath,” said winning co-owner Neville Eager.