ROYAL ASCOT 2021 started today with the usual three Group Ones and normal service was resumed not just with crowds being back but with 50-years-young Frankie Dettori winning the opener, the Queen Anne Stakes on hot-pot Palace Pier but it was Poetic Flare who stole the show in the Gr 1 St James Palace Stakes with a devastating 4 1/4 length victory.
It would take plenty of facts and a very persuasive argument to convince me that Royal Ascot is not the best race meeting in the world and today’s seven-race feast of top class action just served to confirm my view.
Frankie Dettori – on the Royal score sheet again
After Frankie won the Queen Anne for the seventh time, 31 years after his first success on Markofdistinction, the current champion jockey, Oisin Murphy won the Gr 2 Coventry Stakes for 2yos on 11/1 shot, Berkshire Shadow for Andrew Balding. Last year’s July Cup winner, Oxted bounced back to form to win the King’s Stand, reunited with Cieren Fallon, for whom this was his first Royal Ascot winner and didn’t his victory whip waving show how much it meant to him?
Poetic Flare went off 7/2 favourite for the feature race, the St James’s Palace over a mile and in what looked a hot renewal featuring old adversary, Lucky Vega and other 2000 Guineas contenders, Battleground, Chindit, Thunder Moon and Wembley but the son of Dawn Approach annihilated them on the fast ground he loves. Always travelling strongly under Kevin Manning, he took it up two out and kept on strongly for an emphatic and very impressive win.
To win the English 2000 Guineas and then run in the French and Irish equivalents before turning up and routing his rivals today in a competitive Group One makes him a very tough horse, the new “Iron Horse” as Matt Chapman alluded to on ITV racing.
The final three races saw some big priced winners with Rushoun winning the Ascot Stakes for Ian Wiliams and William Buick at 66/1, Juan Elcano finally getting his act together at 14/1 to win the Wolferton Stakes for Kevin Ryan and Andrea Atzeni while the lucky last, the Copper Horse Stakes was another Day One success for John and Thady Gosden, courtesy of Amtiyaz. Hollie Doyle was the day’s final successful jockey but the surprise was the 33/1 starting price!
Roll on Day Two!
