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| Golden Jubilee Stakes 2011 |
Society Rock Goes One Better in Jubilee
18/06/11
1 Society Rock 25/1
2 Monsieur Chevalier 25/1
3 Star Witness 4/1
16 ran Distances: ½l, 1¼l, hd
TIME 1m 17.22s (slow by 3.82s)
Last year’s Golden Jubilee Stakes runner-up Society Rock went one place better this afternoon when belying his 25/1 starting price with a half-length success in the Group One, giving jockey Pat Cosgrave a first Royal Ascot victory.
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“I am absolutely thrilled with the horse because he was slightly forgotten last year when he was second and then he was never really right afterwards. He has taken his time to fire this spring and the last two bits of work have been very good but you never quite know if they are going to go on the ground or not. He has never raced on the ground but he obviously liked it.
“It’s fantastic result for his owner Simon Gibson. He’s not here because he had a fall down his stairs and banged his head. He’s recovering and this will make him feel a lot better.
“It’s great for Pat because he has been riding for me for the past year and he has ridden a fantastic race today.”
Cosgrave added: “I think a lot of people doubted this horse on his first two runs this year but I think James has had this as his target all along. Over the past three weeks, he has been showing the old Society Rock to me. I would have probably appreciated quicker ground but that’s the way it is and he handled it well and showed how good a horse he is.
“I jumped too good and myself and Richard Hughes were getting a bit tight for the first furlong - it was just a case of two of us going for the one gap. I thought my chance might have disappeared at the start when we were hampered. I couldn’t really get out because I was travelling a little bit keen but I eventually got out the back and followed Richard Hughes - he gave me a nice lead - and I ended up getting the splits at the right time.
“To be fair to the horse, he put his head through a gap that was pretty tight and picked up good.
“I know it was a competitive field but I was quite confident beforehand with the main concern being the ground because he has a turn of foot and had done all his winning on a quicker surface.
“I ended up having a nice draw with the good horses around me and although there was a tight gap to go through near the furlong pole it worked out for me.
“He’s probably had a hard race and James and the horse will tell us where we go next. I’m not totally sure the track suits him for the July Cup.”
“All Group Ones are nice but it is nice to get a first Royal Ascot winner and to meet the Queen was fantastic.”
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Position |
Horse Trainer |
Jockey Weight |
Starting Price Beaten Distance |
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1 |
Society Rock J R Fanshawe |
P Cosgrave 9st 4lbs |
25 - 1 Winner |
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2 |
Monsieur Chevalier R Hannon |
K Fallon 9st 4lbs |
25 - 1 1/2 length |
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3 |
Star Witness Danny O'Brien |
Steven Arnold 9st 4lbs |
4 - 1 1 1/4 length |
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4 |
Elzaam R Varian |
R Hills 8st 11lbs |
12 - 1 Head |
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5 |
Bated Breath R Charlton |
R Hughes 9st 4lbs |
8 - 1 Neck |
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6 |
Amico Fritz H A Pantall |
M Guyon 9st 4lbs |
14 - 1 3/4 length |
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7 |
Hooray Sir Mark Prescott |
S Sanders 8st 8lbs |
11 - 1 3/4 length |
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8 |
Genki R Charlton |
J P Spencer 9st 4lbs |
20 - 1 Neck |
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9 |
Jimmy Styles C G Cox |
A Kirby 9st 4lbs |
66 - 1 3/4 length |
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10 |
Kingsgate Native Sir Michael Stoute |
R L Moore 9st 4lbs |
14 - 1 1 1/4 length |
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11 |
Hitchens T D Barron |
F M Berry 9st 4lbs |
33 - 1 1 length |
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12 |
Dalghar A M Balding |
J Fortune 9st 4lbs |
8 - 1 1/2 length |
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13 |
Royal Rock C F Wall |
G Baker 9st 4lbs |
40 - 1 Nose |
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14 |
Bewitched C O'Brien |
J P Murtagh 9st 1lbs |
3 - 1 2 1/2 lengths |
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15 |
Definightly R Charlton |
O Peslier 9st 4lbs |
12 - 1 Head |
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16 |
Palace Moon W J Knight |
Jim Crowley 9st 4lbs |
66 - 1 31 lengths |
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Non Runner |
Delegator S bin Suroor |
M Barzalona 9st 4lbs |
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GALLANT CHEVALIER'S GOLDEN DEFEAT
Monsieur Chevalier could not land a blow when down the field in the five furlong King's Stand Stakes here on Tuesday but the Richard Hannon-trained four-year-old relished the extra furlong of the Group One Golden Jubilee Stakes as he failed by half a length to see off Society Rock.
The Chevalier four-year-old, who did not race at all last year due to suffering from recurring problems with back muscles, reminded everyone of his high-class two-year-old form as he burst from off the pace under Kieren Fallon to challenge for the lead inside the final furlong, only for the winner to sweep by him.
Richard Hannon jnr, assistant trainer to his father, said of the 25/1 shot: "The horse has run an absolute blinder - we are delighted. He has had a long time off and Kieren said he just didn't see the horse on the far side. We will take that and I am very happy.
"We will look at the July Cup and all of the above - six furlongs rather than five. He has always been a gentleman and he looks a picture.
"I think he might have liked the ground. It takes a bit of speed out of the others."
First season trainer Roger Varian was pleased with fourth-placed Elzaam and could also be looking to the Group One July Cup at Newmarket next month for the Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned three-year-old.
He said of the 12/1 shot: "I am really thrilled with how he ran. I thought in the last two furlongs he made up more ground on the field than anything and at least it shows he can do it at this level.
"I think you will see a much better horse on faster ground. Today, on this ground, I'm really pleased with him.
"I think that provided he came out of this race well and we were happy with his training, I would like to look at the July Cup. On the back of this, he looks up to that level. If he got better ground, he would be quite exciting."
JULY CUP NEXT FOR STAR WITNESS
Australian visitor Star Witness, who ran second to Prohibit in the King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday, was again in the places as he finished third to Society Rock in the Golden Jubilee Stakes.
Danny O’Brien, Star Witness’s trainer, said after the race: “We are really pleased, he ran super on Tuesday and super here.
“He probably found the ground a little testing here today - he was really tired in the last 50 metres. He was travelling like the winner at the furlong but just peaked at the end. Steven (Arnold, jockey) said you could attribute that to the ground.
“He travelled really well throughout and had a good little kick but the ground just found him out.
“I brought him over here with the intention of running him the three times so I would think we would go for the July Cup now. He has showed he is running to his true form and we would love to win one.
“We have three weeks now so we will see how he comes out of this race but we will probably go for the July Cup (Newmarket, Saturday July 9).
“The horse is really enjoying Newmarket and we are really enjoying being part of the big races here over the summer, the only thing that would make it better is getting a win on the board.”
Steven Arnold added: “I had a nice run and he travelled great. I could see the outside ones were getting away from us a bit so I decided to go, but when we got to the front on that wet ground he just bottomed out with 50 metres to go.
“With dry ground it might have been a different story. The ground is wet and there is a bit of a headwind which has made it a bit too testing for him.”
