Byword rises to the occasion in Prince of Wales’s

Source:  www.brisnet.com

The aura of Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) hovered over Berkshire for a second day of the Royal Ascot meeting Wednesday, one day after the brilliant miler delivered the first winning stroke to open up the five-day stand.

Byword had the last word in the Prince of Wales's (Frank Sorge/Horsephotos.com)

The hero on Day 2 of England’s most prestigious fixture was BYWORD (Peintre Celebre), a victim of Goldikova in the May 23 Prix d’Ispahan (Fr-G1), who held off fellow Prince Khalid Abdulla-colorbearer Twice Over (Observatory) by a half-length in notching the £450,000 Prince of Wales’s S. (Eng-G1) over 1 1/4 miles. The four-year-old homebred, conditioned in France by Andre Fabre, covered the distance in 2:05.35 over a course rated good-to-firm, good in places.

Like several of the favored winners the previous day, Byword, the 5-2 choice, enjoyed an ideal trip throughout. Tracking in fourth under Maxime Guyon, Byword was always in position to pounce when called upon, rating behind 40-1 pacesetter Tazeez (Silver Hawk), who was followed closely by German invader Wiener Walzar (Dynaformer) and Debussy (Diesis [GB]). Shifted off the inside entering the straight, Byword was forced a little wide by a couple rivals but maintained his momentum inside the final quarter-mile. Finally getting past a determined Tazeez, Byword held on gamely as Twice Over, near the back for much of the running, uncorked his rally too late. The 11-2 second choice Twice Over, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) third-placer, had three parts of a length on Tazeez at the finish.

Byword, who did not debut until June of last year, placed fourth in both Group outings last season, but has made great strides this term. After prevailing in a listed event at Maisons-Laffitte on April 8, the chestnut ran Goldikova to a half-length in the Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp, admittedly at a distance slightly beyond the mare’s best.

“I knew he had the ability to win and I was impressed by the ride as I was fearful he could get boxed in,” Fabre revealed. “He has matured. He wasn’t trained much at three because he had a virus and now he is really coming to himself.

“You could call him a revelation as his form as a three-year-old was not at that level, but we have always though he is a really good horse.”

This initial Group 1 triumph follows closely on the success at the highest level of Byword’s half-sister Proviso (GB) (Dansili [GB]), a multiple Group 3 winner in France who has captured the Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1) and Just a Game S. (G1) in her two turf outings this season. For the time being, Fabre intends to keep Byword at distances dominated by his sibling in America.

“He is a horse that can go for the big mile races; he won’t go farther than 10 furlongs,” Fabre said. “Maybe something like the Prix Jacques le Marois (Fr-G1) next.

“I am not sure he can stay further and although the (Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe [Fr-G1]) is a long way off it has to be a doubt. He needs good ground, too, and is unlikely to get that in Paris in October.”

The effort by Twice Over, last year’s Champion S. (Eng-G1) winner who finished 10th, beaten three lengths, in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) in his most recent outing, satisfied trainer Henry Cecil despite the troubled trip.

“He got blocked in and couldn’t get out, and then he was too far back,” Cecil said. “He ran a super race but it wasn’t enough. I hope we’ll go to the Champion S., but that’s up to the Prince.”

Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore, the trainer-jockey combo successful with Abdulla’s Workforce (King’s Best) in the Epsom Derby (Eng-G1) two weeks ago, tasted Royal success in the £125,000 Windsor Forest S. (Eng-G2) when their gray filly STRAWBERRYDAIQUIRI (Dansili [GB]) prevailed over defending champion Spacious (Nayef) in a head-to-head battle that lasted more than a quarter-mile. Neither giving an inch to the other through the long stretch, Strawberrydaiquiri eventually pipped Spacious by a short head while completing the straight mile in 1:38.04. Antara (Platini), the 7-2 favorite, was three lengths farther back in third.

The Windsor Forest was the sixth win in the eight-race career of Strawberrydaiquiri, a three-time listed winner who notched her first pattern victory by a similar margin in the May 2 Dahlia S. (Eng-G3) at Newmarket, where Spacious was fourth lengths third.

Moore achieved his first victory of the Royal meeting in the opening £80,000 Jersey S. (Eng-G3), guiding the Mark Johnston-trained filly RAINFALL (Oasis Dream [GB]) over an otherwise all-male cast to a head decision over the determined early pacesetter Red Jazz (Johannesburg). The seven-furlong dash for three-year-olds was completed in 1:24.94.

A veteran of only two previous starts, Rainfall had won her debut May 1 at Thirsk by six lengths before bowing by less than a length in a listed event at Sandown May 29.

The first significant event of the meeting for two-year-old fillies, the £90,000 Queen Mary S. (Eng-G2), went to 9-4 favorite MAQAASID (Green Desert) for trainer John Gosden and jockey Richard Hills. The strong choice off a half-length debut score at Sandown, Maqaasid registered a neck decision over 7-2 chance Meow (Storm Cat) in a time of :59.17 for five furlongs.

“Her obvious aim is the Cheveley Park (S. [Eng-G1]) and she’ll tell me if she needs to run in between then,” Gosden said.

Maqaasid counts as a fourth dam the English champion juvenile filly Height of Fashion (Fr) (Bustino), who produced standouts such as dual classic winner Nashwan (Blushing Groom [Fr]) and English highweight Nayef (Gulch). She is also the ancestress of U.S. champion turf mare Lahudood (GB) (Singspiel [Ire]) and English classic winner Ghanaati (Giant’s Causeway).

Maqaasid also hails from the family of Grade 1 winner Ask (GB) (Sadler’s Wells), who holds entry in Thursday’s Gold Cup (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot, as well as Japanese superstar Deep Impact (Sunday Silence). Both descend from Maqaasid’s fifth dam, the dual classic-winning Highclere (GB) (Queen’s Hussar).

TIMEPIECE (Zamindar), an early favorite for the Epsom Oaks (Eng-G1) prior to a second-place effort in the Lingfield Oaks Trial, rebounded from her ninth in the June 4 classic at Epsom with a 1 1/4-length triumph in the £50,000 Sandringham H. A consolation prize for Cecil and jockey Tom Queally following Twice Over’s earlier defeat, the Abdulla homebred completed the straight mile in 1:38.53.

Godolphin registered its first Royal Ascot success with INVISIBLE MAN (Elusive Quality) in the £100,000 Royal Hunt Cup, annually one of the best betting races of the Royal meeting. Conditioned by Saeed bin Suroor and ridden by Frankie Dettori, Invisible Man prevailed by a half-length in a time of 1:37.16 for the straight mile. One of the most noted handicaps of the English flat season, the Royal Hunt Cup featured 29 runners.