Queen Mary Stakes
Group 2, Ascot 14:30 £115,000 guaranteed, 2yo only, 5f, Class 1
Tweet Wednesday 21st June 2023

1 Crimson Advocate 9/1
2 Relief Rally 5/1
3 Beautiful Diamond 11/4
4 Juniper Berries 18/1
26 ran NR: Born To Rock, Tiger Belle
Distances: nse, 2l, 2l Time: 59.96s (slow by 0.56s)

American filly Crimson Advocate beats Relief Rally in a photograph to win the Queen Mary for @ljlmvel and George Weaver! #RoyalAscot @Ascot pic.twitter.com/r1UeLI5v9p https://t.co/ndBn0TazXn via @RacingBetter

— RacingBetter (@RacingBetter) June 21, 2023

Crimson Advocate became the fifth US-trained filly to win the Grade 2 after clinging on by the narrowest of margins in a thrilling finish.

The George Weaver-trained juvenile showed blistering speed and established a clear lead on the stands’ side entering the final furlong. However, her stride started to shorten and she was joined close home by the fast-finishing Relief Rally.

Crimson Advocate had her head in front on the line to give her trainer a first Royal Ascot success, while it was a fourth victory at the meeting for Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez.

Relief Rally was devouring the ground late on under Tom Marquand and was in front a yard after the line but the head bob went against her. Beautiful Diamond, sent off the 11/4 favourite, kept on well to finish two lengths off the front pair in third.

Weaver said: “I have so much respect for the horses over here. It always seems like the European horses are better grass horses than what we have, but I knew our filly was very talented and I was hoping that she would be able to get the job done. Don’t get me wrong, the way she won at Gulfstream, I was very excited about her, but like I said, I have tremendous respect for the trainers and horses that are over here.

“I came here eight years ago with a horse [Cyclogenesis] that wasn’t good enough. I thought it would be great if I could ever come back with something that was, and we did. When you try to plan things, you try to buy horses for Ascot, it never works out. Things just come together, and this year we’ve got two nice horses to bring over here. 

“Royal Ascot is Royal Ascot, what can you say? You can feel the electricity when you’re here and how special it is, and it’s a beautiful feather for us to have in our cap. It’s not the biggest purse I’ve ever won – Vekoma was a tremendous racehorse and I won the Dubai Golden Shaheen early on in 2005 [with Saratoga County]. I’ve had some great moments, but this ranks right up there.”

Velazquez said: “That was close, but I'm glad Crimson Advocate held on. We knew she was going to be really fast coming out; we tried to get her on the best path for the firmer ground. From yesterday to today, the turf is a little bit firmer, so it’s better for our horses and she showed up today.

“I rode two races yesterday and the ground was a little soft for our horses – Wesley Ward’s horses break fast and they had a hard time to keep the pace. Today is a little drier and our horses handle it better.

“I saw her run in Florida when she won, and I was like, I want to ride that horse at Royal Ascot! I actually texted the trainer right away saying I wanted to ride her.

"In the race she was going so well, but I probably made a little premature move thinking I would get away from them and then hold on. In hindsight, I almost messed up the race and should have waited. She handled it better than I did!

"It's great to be here and to have another winner, and it's great for George. His wife had a very bad accident a year and a half ago and they didn't think she would walk again, so for her to be here is a miracle.

“It is a dream come true coming here and I try to come whenever I can. It is a special place and it’s great to come here and have winners.”

Relief Rally’s trainer William Haggas said: “We were in front before, and after the line, but not on. There you go, that’s the way it is, she’s run a great race and made up a lot of ground in the last furlong.”

Marquand added: “I thought we were going to get there. Relief Rally landed there one stride before the line, and one stride after the line.”

Karl Burke, trainer of Beautiful Diamond, Got To Love A Grey (5th), and Lady Pink Rose (7th), said: “All three of them ran great races. They are three lovely fillies to go forward with. Beautiful Diamond had her prep for the breeze-up all winter, she came to us, we ran her only two weeks ago. She comes to a meeting like this – Royal Ascot – and has run a huge race. But she is a weak filly and has had a hard race today. We will back off her for a month now and hopefully we can get her ready for the Lowther or something like that. 

“Got To Love A Grey from what I saw ran a real honest race again. She wears her heart on her sleeve and I’m not sure where we will go with her yet. She probably just lacks that bit of class of the others, but maybe a step up to six will help her improve a little bit. 

“Sheikh Juma’s filly, Lady Pink Rose, is a speedy filly and ran a great race to be second on the far side – Tom [Eaves] thought if he had been on this side, he would have been in the mix, but he would probably have been third or fourth.”

Queen Mary Stakes
£115,000 guaranteed, 2yo only, 5f, Class 3
26 ran
Going: Good

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (28)    Crimson Advocate 2 9-2 George Weaver John R Velazquez 9/1
2 (18) nse Relief Rally 2 9-2 William Haggas Tom Marquand 5/1
3 (17) 2 Beautiful Diamond 2 9-2 K R Burke Clifford Lee 11/4
4 (21) 2 Juniper Berries 2 9-2 Eve Johnson Houghton Charles Bishop 18/1
5 (15) ½ Got To Love A Grey 2 9-2 K R Burke Sam James 7/1
6 (8) hd Flora Of Bermuda 2 9-2 Andrew Balding James Doyle 20/1
7 (5) ¾ Lady Pink Rose 2 9-2 K R Burke Tom Eaves 40/1
8 (14) shd Balsam 2 9-2 H-F Devin Ryan Moore 16/1
9 (19) 1¾ Midnight Affair 2 9-2 Richard Fahey Daniel Tudhope 9/1
10 (16) ¾ Cynane 2 9-2 Thomas Morley Javier Castellano 18/1
11 (20) nk Thanksbutnothanks 2 9-2 Dominic Ffrench Davis David Egan 80/1
12 (23) hd Geologist 2 9-2 Amy Murphy James McDonald 40/1
13 (6) nk Graceful Thunder 2 9-2 George Boughey Rossa Ryan 40/1
14 (27) 1¼ Launch 2 9-2 Adrian Murray Kevin Stott 50/1
15 (9) hd Betties Bay 2 9-2 Georgina Nicholls Joshua Bryan 40/1
16 (10) nk Gaiden 2 9-2 Richard Hannon Sean Levey 25/1
17 (11) ¾ Mariamne 2 9-2 James Ferguson Daniel Muscutt 150/1
18 (3) 1¼ Princess Chizara 2 9-2 Conrad Allen Darragh Keenan 40/1
19 (13) hd Callianassa 2 9-2 Brian Ellison Oisin Orr 150/1
20 (25) 1¾ Tallulabelle 2 9-2 David O'Meara Jason Watson 150/1
21 (26) ¾ Bated Moon 2 9-2 Joseph O'Brien Declan McDonogh 66/1
22 (22) 1¼ Bundchen 2 9-2 Wesley A Ward Joel Rosario 40/1
23 (7) nk Out Of The Stars 2 9-2 Archie Watson Oisin Murphy 14/1
24 (4) nse Onigiri 2 9-2 Marco Botti Neil Callan 40/1
25 (1) 1½ Hot Front 2 9-2 Paul & Oliver Cole Kieran Shoemark 150/1
26 (24) 1 Cotai Vision 2 9-2 Ed Walker Hollie Doyle 80/1
NR 5 (12) Born To Rock 2 9-2 Jane Chapple-Hyam NON RUNNER
NR 28 (2) Tiger Belle 2 9-2 Adrian McGuinness NON RUNNER

QUEEN MARY STAKES WINNERS

YR/DATE GR WINNER TRAINER JOCKEY OWNER AGE/WGT SP

2022 2 DRAMATISED K R Burke Daniel Tudhope Clipper Logistics 2 9-02 5/2F
2021 2 QUICK SUZY Gavin Cromwell Gary Carroll Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners 2 9-00 8/1
2020 2 CAMPANELLE Wesley Ward USA Frankie Dettori Stonestreet Stables LLC 2-9-00 9/2
2019 2 RAFFLE PRIZE Mark Johnston Frankie Dettori Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum 2-9-00 18/1
2018 2 SIGNORA CABELLO John Quinn Oisin Murphy Phoenix Thoroughbreds & Zen Racing 2-9-00 25/1
2017 2 HEARTACHE Clive Cox Adam Kirby The Hot To Trot Syndicate 2-9-00 5/1
2016 2 LADY AURELIA Wesley Ward USA Frankie Dettori Stonestreet Stables LLC/G Bolton/P Leidel 2-9-00 2/1F
2015 2 ACAPULCO Wesley Ward USA Ryan Moore Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith 2-9-00 5/2F
2014 2 ANTHEM ALEXANDER Edward Lynam IRE Pat Smullen Noel O’Callaghan 2-9-00 9/4F
2013 2 RIZEENA Clive Brittain James Doyle Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum 2-8-12 6/1
2012 2 CEILING KITTY Tom Dascombe Richard Kingscote Andrew Black & The Master Bettors 2-8-12 20/1
2011 2 BEST TERMS Richard Hannon snr Richard Hughes Robert Barnett 2-8-12 12/1
2010 2 MAQAASID John Gosden Richard Hills Hamdan Al Maktoum 2-8-12 9/4F
2009 2 JEALOUS AGAIN Wesley Ward USA John Velazquez R Abrams, R Brewer, M Dutko, W Ward 2-8-12 13/2
2008 LANGS LASH Mick Quinlan Alan Munro John Hanly 2-8-12 25/1
2007 2 ELLETELLE Ger Lyons IRE Johnny Murtagh Jesse Club Syndicate 2-8-12 20/1
2006 2 GILDED Richard Hannon snr Richard Hughes Mrs J Wood 2-8-12 11/2
*2005 2 FLASHY WINGS Mick Channon Ted Durcan Jaber Abdullah 2-8-10 4/1JF
2004 2 DAMSON David Wachman IRE Jamie Spencer Sue Magnier & Michael Tabor 2-8-10 11/2JF
2003 3 ATTRACTION Mark Johnston Kevin Darley Duke of Roxburghe 2-8-10 13/8F
2002 3 ROMANTIC LIASON Brian Meehan Pat Eddery Con Wilson 2-8-08 16/1
2001 3 QUEEN’S LOGIC Mick Channon Steve Drowne Jaber Abdullah 2-8-08 13/2
2000 3 ROMANTIC MYTH Tim Easterby Kevin Darley Terry Holdcroft 2-8-06 4/1F
1999 3 SHINING HOUR Peter Chapple-Hyam Jimmy Fortune Robert Sangster 2-8-08 20/1
1998 3 BINT ALLAYL Mick Channon Frankie Dettori Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum 2-8-08 2/1F
1997 3 NADWAH Peter Walwyn Richard Hills Hamdan Al Maktoum 2-8-08 10/1
1996 3 DANCE PARADE Paul Cole Michael Kinane Prince Fahd Salman 2-8-08 8/1
1995 3 BLUE DUSTER David Loder Michael Kinane Sheikh Mohammed 2-8-08 7/4F
1994 3 GAY GALLANTA Michael Stoute Walter Swinburn Cheveley Park Stud 2-8-08 16/1
1993 3 RISKY Richard Hannon snr Walter Swinburn Roldvale Ltd 2-8-08 11/2
1992/ 3 LYRIC FANTASY Richard Hannon snr Michael Roberts Lord Carnarvon 2-8-08 11/8F
1991 3 MARLING Geoff Wragg Gary Carter Edmund Loder 2-8-08 11/4F
1990 3 ON TIPTOES Jim Leigh Dean McKeown John Rowles 2-8-08 8/1
1989 3 DEAD CERTAIN David Elsworth Steve Cauthen Commander Toby Marten 2-8-08 8/1
1988 3 GLORIELLA John McLaughlin IRE John Reid John McLaughlin 2-8-08 8/1
1987 3 PRINCESS ATHENA David Elsworth Willie Carson Henry Senn 2-8-08 9/1
1986 3 FOREST FLOWER Ian Balding Pat Eddery Paul Mellon 2-8-08 9/4JF
1985 3 GWYDION Henry Cecil Steve Cauthen Stavros Niarchos 2-8-08 2/1F
1984 3 HI-TECH GIRL Peter Makin Greville Starkey Intercraft 2-8-08 16/1
1983 2 NIGHT OF WIND Matt McCormack Bruce Raymond P Durkan 2-8-08 50/1
1982 2 WIDAAD Michael Stoute Walter Swinburn Maktoum Al Maktoum 2-8-08 13/8F
1981 2 FLY BABY Richard Hannon snr Paul Cook Malden Farms Ltd 2-8-08 40/1
1980 2 PUSHY Henry Cecil Joe Mercer Lord Tavistock 2-8-08 7/1
1979 2 ABEER Jeremy Tree Willie Carson Khalid Abdullah 2-8-08 7/1
1978 2 GREENLAND PARK William Hastings-Bass Harry White Greenland Park Ltd 2-8-08 15/2
1977 2 AMARANDA Harry Wragg Lester Piggott Budgie Moller 2-8-08 4/6F