By Tom Frary
A gamble was landed in the Listed Windor Castle S. as Tactical (GB) (Toronado {Ire}) brought up a 24th Royal Ascot winner for The Queen. Third on debut over this five-furlong trip at Newmarket June 4, the heavily-supported 7-2 favourite tracked the early pace stands' side and after reeling in Muker (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) in the last half a furlong asserted to score by 1 1/4 lengths from Yazaman (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who denied Muker in a photo.
Trainer Andrew Balding, whose stable is in a rich vein of form, was basking in the satisfaction of training a first for the English monarch and said, “Tactical was showing a fair bit at home before we ran him first time out. He ran a nice race and learnt plenty and James [Doyle] gave him a lovely ride today, but we were quite hopeful, especially when it looked like the draw was more of a help than a hindrance. He would have been, for me, ready to run in April, which is very early for one of mine. He has got a great attitude and is very professional. It is obviously a huge thrill for all of us to have a Royal winner at the Royal meeting. I feel very lucky. Dad was lucky enough to have a Royal winner here and my uncle William [Lord Huntingdon] had a couple, so it is nice to keep up with them. I think he will be better over six furlongs and we stuck at five because we thought the Coventry Stakes would be a much stronger race, but he will certainly be going six furlongs and looks up to group class, anyway.”
James Doyle, who was riding a double on the day, added, “Things just didn't quite go to plan [first time] as there was a speed and rail bias that day, but I loved the way he came home. The vibes were very positive and that was justified by him going off favourite–there was plenty of market support for him all day. It was a straightforward race. I was a bit concerned about the draw, but testament to Tactical–he took it all in his stride, he jumped the gates very quick. I kept things simple and was conscious about not getting to the front too soon on a horse who is inexperienced. It is just a huge honour. It is not one of the flagship races here, but it is the connections involved–it's great.”
John Warren, Racing Manager to The Queen, commented, “Everyone involved is thrilled. All of Her Majesty's stud team and staff team at Sandringham and Polehampton through to the operations that provide the horses and obviously Andrew Balding and his team. It is a big team effort and it's wonderful for Toronado to sire a big two-year-old winner like that. It is lovely for The Queen. She has a nice, young mare and this is her first foal. Throughout the conversations, Her Majesty was saying how delighted she was to breed a two-year-old winner. It is lovely to breed and own a lovely Royal Ascot two-year-old.”
“Andrew Balding had been saying from the spring that Tactical was naturally precocious and had found his work terribly easy,” Warren continued. “It looked as though he was a nice prospect, although at that point we didn't immediately clock him as an Ascot two-year-old. When he ran at Newmarket and he got himself into a bit of trouble, but he had such a good introduction and came out of the race so well, it boded well for his prospects to come here. He is very powerful and strong, so we thought we would take our chance over the five furlongs and luckily we learned that he will make the switch up to six furlongs quite happily, so we will look at races like the [G2] Richmond at Goodwood or the [G2] Prix Robert Papin. It is obviously a great shame that Her Majesty is not at Royal Ascot to enjoy the buzz of a winner. She has studied every bit of it today watching the races. The last two days she has been able to spend a little bit of time watching the big races.”
As John Warren stated, the winner is the first foal out of Make Fast who was second in the Listed Radley S. and Listed Surrey S. over seven furlongs. She is a half to Raymi Coya (Van Nistelrooy) who took the G3 Oh So Sharp S. and is related to this yard's smart Raise You (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) who captured the Listed Fairway S. and was third in the G3 Rose of Lancaster S. Her yearling colt is by Iffraaj (GB), while her filly foal is by The Queen's Recorder (GB).
Wednesday, Royal Ascot, Britain
WINDSOR CASTLE S.-Listed, £40,000, Ascot, 6-17, 2yo, 5fT, 1:00.04, gd.
1–TACTICAL (GB), 129, c, 2, by Toronado (Ire)
1st Dam: Make Fast (GB) (MSP-Eng), by Makfi (GB)
2nd Dam: Raymi Coya, by Van Nistelrooy
3rd Dam: Something Mon, by Maria's Mon
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O/B-The Queen (GB); T-Andrew Balding; J-James Doyle. £23,680. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1, $30,547.
2–Yazaman (Ire), 129, c, 2, Kodiac (GB)–Online Alexander (Ire), by Acclamation (GB). (185,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum; B-Mount Armstrong Stud (IRE); T-William Haggas. £8,956.
3–Muker (Ire), 129, c, 2, Mehmas (Ire)–Naias (Ire), by Namid (GB). (€32,000 Wlg '18 GOFNOV; £27,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR). O-SYPS (UK) Ltd; B-Joe & June Staunton (IRE); T-Phillip Makin. £4,476.
Margins: 1 1/4, NO, 2. Odds: 3.50, 20.00, 40.00.
Also Ran: Get It (GB), Mighty Gurkha (Ire), Victory Heights (Ire), Chief Little Hawk, Sheriff Bianco, Sunshine City, Fools Rush In (Ire), Hyde Park Barracks, Selected (Ire), Fast Start (GB), Stay Smart (GB), Tantastic (GB), Astimegoesby (Ire), Tenth Century (GB), Honeydew (Ire). Scratched: Macho Pride (Ire), Steadman (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result.
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