There was disappointment for Willie Mullins, King Charles and Queen Camilla as the well-backed Reaching High finished last at Royal Ascot. Sent off the 13/8 favourite, the five-year-old looked to be going well after a much clearer passage through the race on Tuesday than he had 12 months ago. However, when asked to go by Ryan Moore , he could not do so and the writing was on the wall a long way out, with the son of Sea The Stars beaten almost 60 lengths
by 25/1 winner Kizlyar for Joseph O’Brien . Ridden by Tipperary jockey Joey Sheridan, the gelding led home a 1-2 for the trainer, with Defiantly (also 25/1) coming second under English rider James Doyle. The exacta paid £813.70 for a £1 stake, while the forecast returned £555.06 for a £1 stake. It was an Irish 1-2-3 as the Henry de Bromhead-trained Tim Toe (8/1) came home third under Kildare jockey Ronan Whelan. The tricast paid out £5,405.97, while the trifecta returned a massive £11,209.80. The
King and Queen were accompanied by the Princess Royal and her newly married son Peter Phillips, along with his wife Harriet Sperling, as they witnessed the racing spectacular. Also among the guests was the Queen’s son, Tom Parker Bowles. Peter and his wife savoured their inaugural Royal Ascot carriage procession as a married royal couple and appeared thoroughly delighted during their time in the royal box, with photographs capturing them in fits of laughter. Celebrity attendees at the races included Spice Girl Geri Halliwell with
her husband Christian Horner, TV chef Merry Berry, West End theatre mogul Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, and American vocalist Vanessa Williams. In a message featured in the official programme, the couple recognised the challenges of securing victory at the world-renowned Berkshire racing venue. “As owner breeders ourselves, we know how hard it is to win races at Royal Ascot and wish our fellow breeders, both at home and abroad, the best of luck in this most fascinating of challenges,” they stated. Charles and Camilla inherited
the late Queen’s stable of horses and have developed into keen and dedicated racehorse owners, celebrating their maiden Royal Ascot triumph in 2023 when their thoroughbred Desert Hero claimed victory in the King George V Stakes. They’ll be hoping for improved fortunes later this week, having entered four more horses in the sporting occasion, which represents one of the premier fixtures in the flat racing calendar. Meanwhile, Kizlyar’s win provided Sheridan with his maiden Royal Ascot victory after getting up by a head to triumph
. Sheridan said: “It just means everything. I only started riding for Joseph last year and it’s what kept me in Ireland really and I can’t thank him enough for what he’s given me. Dylan (Browne McMonagle) was out for the first two months of the season and Joseph fired everything at me so to pay him back to ride a Royal Ascot winner is brilliant.” O’Brien will hold off on making any decisions regarding the horse’s next outing until the handicapper has made their
assessment. He said: “He’s off the back of a good win last time. We didn’t get into the Fred Winter, unfortunately! This was obviously the next target for him, and I’m delighted to win such a good race with him. “It looked like Defiantly maybe had outbattled him at one stage, but he battled back hard in the final furlong. He might be one to go abroad with – we’ll see what the handicapper does and go from there.” Click here to sign up to
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Royal Ascot, Reaching High, Willie Mullins, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Kizlyar, Joseph O'Brien, Joey Sheridan, Defiantly, James Doyle, Tim Toe, Ronan Whelan, Ryan Moore, Sea The Stars