Aidan O’Brien, mit Frack und Zylinder passend gekleidet und wie meist mit dunkler Sonnenbrille, konnte gut lachen, scherzte mit seinen Besitzern. Dem irischen Meistertrainer war gerade mit der zweijährigen Stute Bedtime Story sein sechster Erfolg in diesem Jahr bei Royal Ascot gelungen. Es ist das bekannteste Galopp-Meeting der Welt, nicht zuletzt, weil es sich royaler Schirmherrschaft erfreut.
Obwohl gesundheitlich angeschlagen, zeigte sich König Charles nebst Gemahlin an allen fünf Tagen des Meetings unweit von Schloss Windsor, ganz in der Tradition seiner pferdebegeisterten Mutter, die in ihrer langen Amtszeit kaum einen Royal Ascot-Renntag verpasst hat. 2002, im Jahr des 50. Thronjubiläums der Queen, wurde das Meeting von vier auf fünf Tage verlängert. Inzwischen ist der Samstag der am besten besuchte Tag, mit rund 68.000 Renn- und Feierfans meldete der Veranstalter ein „full house“.
Aus der Zeit gefallen
Die dominierende Figur war wie so oft in der jüngeren Vergangenheit besagter O’Brien, der bereits zum 13. Mal als der erfolgreichste Trainer des Meetings abreiste. Der Sieg mit Auguste Rodin in den mit einer Million Pfund (etwa 1.18 Millionen Eur) dotierten Pince of Wales’s Stakes – das wertvollste Rennen des Meetings – markierte den 400. Treffer O’Briens in einem Gruppe I-Rennen, eine schier unglaubliche Zahl. Doch der Erfolg im Ascot Gold Cup, ebenfalls Gruppe I, setzte diesem Meilenstein noch eines oben drauf, denn der Gold Cup ist so etwas wie der emotionale Höhepunkt der Veranstaltung.
With the extreme distance of 4000 meters, he seems out of time and that applies to some extent to the whole meeting. There are very few high-class races over such long distances left in the world, but the Gold Cup always produces emotions and heroes. None more so than the six-year-old Kyprios, who had already won the Gold Cup in 2022 but then had to endure a long story of suffering.
“There is probably no horse that has been X-rayed and radiographed so many times,” said O'Brien after the historic triumph, as only Anticipation (1816 and 1818) and Kayf Tara (1998 and 2000) had previously managed to win the Gold Cup again after a break. “It's actually impossible to come back from his situation. At one point we thought he wouldn't survive. His real strength is his spirit. We had to start from scratch with him and learn how to walk, trot and canter again.” But patience paid off.
Ryan Moore, O'Brien's number one for many years, was in the saddle of Kyprios. Moore became meeting champion for the 11th time, and with 85 Royal Ascot victories he has now even left Ascot favourite Frankie Dettori behind and may even catch up with jockey legend Lester Piggott (116 victories). At 41, he still has a few years ahead of him if he stays healthy.
Moore demonstrated his class on Fairy Godmother in the Albany Stakes, securing a spectacular bet. On the track, a gambler placed 100,000 (around 118,000 euros) on the mare with a bookmaker. “When we saw that Ryan was stuck in the race, we thought we had dodged the bullet, but Moore still got her going,” said a spokesman for bookmaker Star Sports. 200,000 pounds in winnings (around 236,000 euros) had to be paid out.
It was also a special meeting for 18-year-old Billy Loughnane, who won his first ever group race in Germany in April. He then took the Gr.II Coventry Stakes on the 80/1 outsider Rashabar and added another meeting win with the 14/1 chance Soprano. “Billy the Kid”, as he is known everywhere, has a great future ahead of him – it's not unlikely that Aidan O'Brien, always looking to improve his team, has already noticed the young man.