Ombudsman etched his name deeper into Royal Ascot history with a commanding victory in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes, becoming only the fourth horse to win the prestigious contest in successive years.
Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
The reigning champion delivered a performance of remarkable authority in Wednesday’s 10-furlong feature, quickening clear in the home straight to leave a high-class field trailing and further enhance his standing among Europe’s elite middle-distance performers.
With Mississippi River and Devil’s Advocate ensuring a searching early pace, William Buick was content to bide his time aboard Ombudsman. Positioned off the leaders throughout, the Juddmonte-owned star travelled smoothly before being angled into clear daylight approaching the final two furlongs.
For a brief moment, last year’s leading filly Minnie Hauk and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Daryz appeared poised to challenge. However, once Buick asked his mount to accelerate, the race was effectively over. Ombudsman surged clear with an explosive turn of foot, crossing the line four lengths ahead of Minnie Hauk, while Daryz finished a further one-and-three-quarter lengths back in third.
The victory placed Ombudsman alongside some distinguished names in the history of the race. Previously, only Connaught, Mtoto and Muhtarram had managed to win consecutive editions of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
Co-trainer John Gosden, who also prepared Muhtarram for his back-to-back successes in 1994 and 1995, described the latest triumph as one of the finest displays of the horse’s career.
“Aidan had a pacemaker and we thought we’d have ours doing what we wanted to do as well,” Gosden said. “They wound up meeting coming into the bend and off the bend, so they obviously agreed on the pace.
“With a furlong to go I thought they were going to have to go a bit, but Ombudsman has got a phenomenal turn of foot. Great acceleration for a mile-and-a-quarter horse. He just showed that class.
“It is quite something to come away from a field like that.”
Gosden was particularly impressed by the calibre of the opposition defeated, noting the strong efforts of runner-up Minnie Hauk and Arc hero Daryz while suggesting Irish Group 1 winner Almaqam may not have shown his true form.
Looking ahead, the trainer indicated that the Juddmonte International at York could become the horse’s next major objective.
“Ombudsman is right up there now with what he’s done,” Gosden added. “He is a lovely horse and he’ll make a good stallion. He’s got all the right things; a good mind, a fabulous body and great strength.”
Buick admitted he arrived at Royal Ascot with high expectations but was still taken aback by the manner of the victory.
“We thought Ombudsman came here in very good shape,” the jockey said. “Every step of the way he was perfect, so there was a great deal of expectation.
“You had a genuinely run race and there were several top-class horses in there. We had huge respect for the opposition, but today he pleasantly surprised me with how well he did it.
“He was exceptional. It’s very rare for a horse to do what he did.”
The rider also praised the horse’s development, describing him as a character who has improved with every season and is now reaching his peak.
The latest Ombudsman Prince of Wales’s Stakes success was also a highlight of Royal Ascot week for Buick, who labelled the race one of the showcase events of the meeting.
Behind the winner, connections of the placed horses could still take encouragement from their performances. Trainer Aidan O’Brien felt runner-up Minnie Hauk had produced exactly the sort of effort expected from a filly likely to be even more effective over further distances.
“We are delighted,” O’Brien said. “She’s really a mile-and-a-half filly and over a mile and a quarter she wanted a strong gallop. The winner had a little bit more speed than her over this trip.”
Potential future targets for Minnie Hauk could include the King George before a possible return to France later in the season.
Francis-Henri Graffard, meanwhile, believed circumstances worked against Daryz, who never settled into his usual rhythm.
“He never really relaxed and had a chance to take a breath,” Graffard explained. “We didn’t see the Daryz of Longchamp. Today he was not like that.”
While questions remain for some of his rivals, there were none surrounding the winner. Ombudsman arrived at Royal Ascot as a proven Group 1 performer and departed having strengthened his reputation even further. His emphatic Prince of Wales’s Stakes defence was the performance of a horse operating at the peak of his powers and one that could yet lead to even bigger honours later this season.
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