Royal Ascot has come and gone – Solow, Gleneagles, Ryan Moore, Undrafted … five days of the best racing in the world. Here’s the best quotes from the week. Enjoy.
“He had been working terrible. We worked him over a mile and a quarter with a maiden, who beat him out of sight. We thought maybe we’d gone too fast, so we tried again, with the same result.” – Trainer Mark Johnston, after Oriental Fox won the Queen Alexandra
“Unfortunately, in a couple of occasions in the race he lost concentration from being on his own, so it would have been an advantage if he was with another horse. It’s just the way that it was – he was so gallant and tough and unfortunately couldn’t get there in the end. Under no circumstances did he lay down – it was truly an Aussie spirit and he fought hard.” – Jockey Craig Williams, after Australian raider Brazen Beau finished second in the Diamond Jubilee
“We ran Warrior Of Light and I thought he was the biggest certainty I have had, but he was beaten. I got in the car with my wife, kicked the dashboard and said ‘I hate Royal Ascot’. Now I love it. It’s the biggest meeting in the world and with so much prestige. You don’t get given a Royal Ascot winner, you have to work for it, and this has rewarded everyone back at the yard who has worked so hard on this filly.” – Trainer David Lanigan after saddling his first Royal Ascot winner, Interception, in the Wokingham Handicap
“I am just elated. This is the biggest race I’ve won – I’ve won Breeders’ Cups and races here in the past, but to come here and be presented with a Group 1 trophy by the Queen was such a fantastic experience. The horse has been training unbelievably well and every week has been firing bullets at Keeneland, but I’ll tell you what, Frankie is superb. You can have a Porsche against Porsches, but you still gotta have the right guy and this is a magical guy. He’s just a cool sitter and a go-getter as they say.” – Trainer Wesley Ward, after Frankie Dettori guided – drove – Undrafted to win the Golden Jubilee
“I’ve always felt that when a jockey is paid to ride a horse, they should ride their own horse. Unfortunately, a certain jockey spent the whole of the race riding our horse, which we hadn’t employed him to do. I have nothing else to say on the matter, but I hate to see unnecessarily messy races, with one jockey all over another horse. It’s not clean racing and it’s not intelligent.” – Trainer John Gosden, after Eagle Top finished second in the Hardwicke Stakes
“We bought him at La Teste for 12,000 euros and my good friend Adam Solomon, who is a barrister in London, owns half and my wife Melissa the other half. She is a wonderful person, very, very good at home – she helps out fantastically in the yard and we would be lost without her.” – Trainer Eoghan O’Neill after winning the Chesham Stakes with Suits You
“Ryan Moore is a brilliant jockey, anyone can see that. To win nine races during any week is a fantastic achievement, but to do it at Royal Ascot where the competition is so tough is extremely impressive. I’m sure Ryan will go on to break many more records during his career.” – Retired legend Lester Piggott after Moore eclipse his record of eight wins at a single Royal Ascot meeting
“We were pleased with her and she was a legitimate contender. But there is a slight disappointment that she wasn’t closer. She stumbled slightly leaving the gate and that lit her up a little. If she’d settled better she might have been closer. But it’s a big thing to ask to make the journey over. She’ll go back to the States now and prepare for the big targets in the fall.” – Trainer Graham Motion, after Miss Temple City finished a close fourth in the Coronation Stakes
“I said to Jamie to give him a ballsy ride and it suited him down to the ground. It was a fantastic ride, even if he had got beat, he did what I had told him to do.” – Trainer David Simcock, after Jamie Spencer guided Balios to win the King Edward VII Stakes
“When I first came to England, I was with Luca Cumani and David was his assistant. He was probably the laziest assistant any trainer has had but he talked plenty about it.” – Spencer about Simcock
“Things weren’t going right but I felt they had to get better. I never stopped believing they would – you mustn’t forget your confidence – but I came here with no expectations of riding a winner just because it was my last time here. It was nice to do it, but not the end of things if I didn’t.” – Jockey Richard Hughes, after winning his first race at Royal Ascot this year, his last before retiring to become a trainer
“It’s a helluva story and credit must go to the owners. Those who know me know I’m not the most adventurous when it comes to stumping up £35,000, particularly when I own a bit of the horse.” – Trainer (and co-owner) Ed Dunlop, after Trip To Paris won the Gold Cup
“That’s an awful question – I’ve had a great day in the office. It’s lovely to ride a winner here, a Group One as well.” – Jockey Graham Lee, when asked if winning the Gold Cup was better than winning the Grand National
“James got first run on me and carved me up a little bit but I got him back. I thought no, I’m not going to beat him, but then the last 100 yards he ran left and I got a tune out of mine, and we crossed the line – whoo, it’s tighter than I thought.” – Frankie Dettori after nabbing jockey James Doyle on the wire in the Sandringham Handicap
“But you can’t force fitness, and ideally the race was two weeks too soon. I did have huge confidence in the horse and his ability, though. It was a calculated risk and a personal triumph for me.” – Trainer Dermot Weld after Free Eagle won the Prince of Wales’s Stakes
“I was very disappointed after her first run and I did something very unconventional and breezed her right back in seven days time and it was the most phenomenal breeze I’ve ever had.” – Trainer Wesley Ward, after Acapulco won the Queen Mary
“I’ll get a bollocking now.” – Trainer Charlie Hills, after beating his father, Barry, in the Jersey Stakes
“Joseph said before the race that he had him better today than at any stage, which was pleasing to hear. He does everything with the horse and he wouldn’t say that lightly.” – Trainer Aidan O’Brien, referring to his son Joseph, after Gleneagles stormed home to win the St James’s Palace Stakes
“Royal Ascot and riding proper horses – that’s why we do it. You want to ride the best horses and he’s about the best one of his generation at the minute.” – Jockey Ryan Moore about Gleneagles
“The last furlong felt like four or five minutes, although I know it was only about 12 seconds.” – Trainer Robert Cowell, after Goldream took the King’s Stand Stakes
“I love horses – I was born on a horse – and I love coming to Royal Ascot to see the horses here.” – Sheikh Mohammed, after Buratino won the Coventry Stakes
“He is a fantastic horse, a great warrior who can do anything – you can wait, you can lead. I didn’t think the pace was that fast and he got caught for speed for a moment, but you are running against the best; what do you expect?” – Trainer Freddy Head, after Solow won the Queen Anne Stakes
