Royal Ascot 2023 Review

Tweenhills’ Racing Analyst Adam Brookes reviews the performances of the Qatar Racing runners at Royal Ascot 2023…

Saint George was born and raised at Tweenhills, by the late Roaring Lion and out of Stakes-placed stayer Lady Dragon, and he gave all the team plenty to cheer on Wednesday. Saint George went into the Gr.2 Queen's Vase with a Timeform Rating of 98p and emerged with a figure of 114 after getting closest to the Frankie Dettori-ridden unbeaten favourite Gregory. Saint George has been extremely progressive this year, tries his heart out and looks an obvious one for the Gr.3 Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket on July 13. His trainer Andrew Balding had mentioned the Queen’s Vase for the colt way back in March so plenty of credit to him.

Another to produce a big chunk of improvement (from Timeform 89 to 109) was Zoology, a son of Zoustar, who was a length second to Age of Kings in the 15-runner Gr.3 Jersey Stakes on Saturday. Zoology had been off for 2 months since finishing fourth in the Greenham, and an excellent training performance from James Ferguson saw him justify another tilt at Group level. Back on a sound surface, Zoology dug deep under Oisin Murphy to hit the line well, finishing directly ahead of five horses who had previously either won or been placed at Stakes level.

Valiant King was another born and raised at Tweenhills, and he was beaten just a head in the King George V Stakes (Heritage Handicap) on Thursday. He didn’t get the smoothest of passages through but neither did winner Desert Hero so we were just unfortunate to bump into a slightly better handicapped rival. Valiant King proved he stayed 12f and looks a very progressive colt – credit to Joseph O’Brien who always retained faith in him.

Lion of War became the fourth runner-up for Qatar Racing at the meeting in the Golden Gates Stakes (Handicap). He bounced back to form when winning at Musselburgh and fully confirmed his resurgence with this effort, closing all the way to the line on his return to 10f. Like Valiant King, he’s still capable of winning another handicap from a mark in the 90s.

Another homebred is Buckaroo who once again proved his versatility with distance to finish third in the Listed Wolferton Stakes. He had a very serious illness in the second half of 2022 so has been expertly trained by Joseph O’Brien to prove better than ever this year, winning a Listed race and finishing a close fourth in the Gr.1 Prix d’Ispahan. He could have more big International races on his agenda. 

Out of The Stars didn’t run up to expectations in the Queen Mary but she was drawn on the unfavoured side and is certainly worth another chance. Her trainer Archie Watson thinks plenty of her and he had three sprint winners at this year’s Royal Ascot, as well as being beaten a neck in the Coventry Stakes for 2yos.