Royal Ascot: 5 things we learned on day four

Speed to the fore as new stars emerge.

Golden Horde and Hollie Doyle were among the Ascot eye-catchers – here we reflect on five lessons learned during 2020 day four:

First of many

Jockey Hollie Doyle is all smiles after her win on Scarlet Dragon
Jockey Hollie Doyle is all smiles after her win on Scarlet Dragon (Edward Whittaker)

It is no secret that Hollie Doyle is one of the rising forces in the weighing room (along with her other half Tom Marquand), so it was only a matter of time before she rode a first Royal Ascot winner. She has beaten Marquand to the punch, and follows Gay Kelleway and Hayley Turner into the record books as the only female riders to taste success at the meeting. But the fact Turner has ridden two in the past two years, and Doyle swiftly followed up, is perhaps a sign that racing is making ground in the equality stakes.

Jet propelled

The Lir Jet (left) just gets up to deny American challenger Golden Pal
The Lir Jet (left) just gets up to deny American challenger Golden Pal (Julian Finney)

Michael Bell’s son Nick could be seen charging down from the almost empty grandstand after The Lir Jet won the Norfolk Stakes – yet he is probably thinking he wished he had asked for more. Bell jnr bought The Lir Jet, along with bloodstock agent Robson Aguiar, for just GBP 8,000 in August – but after the youngster broke the all-aged track record at Yarmouth on his debut, he was sold on in a private deal to Qatar Racing. His new owners got an immediate return on their outlay and now have a stallion prospect on their hands, so whatever they paid can probably now be considered a bargain.

The best yet?

Golden Horde was a very impressive winner of the Commonwealth Cup
Golden Horde was a very impressive winner of the Commonwealth Cup (Edward Whittaker)

While he is far from a one-trick pony, former jump jockey Clive Cox seems to have a way with top-class sprinters and has another outstanding prospect on his hands with Golden Horde. To win a Group One on your seasonal reappearance is no mean feat, and in winning the Commonwealth Cup by one and a half lengths he fairly tore the field apart. Very smart at two, Golden Horde won the Richmond Stakes and was second in the Middle Park, and he has filled into a most taking specimen. His sire Lethal Force won two Group Ones for Cox, while the stable’s Harry Angel was the best around for a while too. Golden Horde is in the same box those two inhabited.

Logan’s run

Fanny Logan streaks clear under Frankie Dettori to win the Hardwicke
Fanny Logan streaks clear under Frankie Dettori to win the Hardwicke (Edward Whittaker)

John Gosden pulled another rabbit out of the hat this week as Fanny Logan sprouted wings to beat the boys in the Hardwicke Stakes. The filly appeared to face a stiff task, having been well beaten on her reappearance at Haydock, but she settled beautifully at the rear for Frankie Dettori before sweeping round the outside to win just as impressively as Lord North had in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. She went to the Breeders’ Cup last year, and a return Stateside is on the agenda.

The North strikes back

Art Power was in a different league to his rivals
Art Power was in a different league to his rivals (Edward Whittaker)

Mark Johnston has been carrying the northern challenge at Royal Ascot pretty much single-handedly for some time now. But an opening-race double from Tim Easterby, based at Habton Grange near Malton, and Leyburn’s Karl Burke -to go with Johnston’s Royal Hunt Cup win earlier in the week – at least brought some respectability to proceedings. Boy were both winners impressive too! Art Power lived up to his tall reputation and is now likely to be aimed at the Nunthorpe, while Dandalla sparked Classic dreams for Burke in winning the Albany.

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