Port Fairy knuckled down admirably to provide Aidan O’Brien with a fifth victory in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Previously successful with Bracelet (2014), Even Song (2016), Magic Wand (2018) and Warm Heart (2023), the Ballydoyle handler was double-handed in this year’s renewal, with Ryan Moore siding with 12/1 shot Port Fairy over her stablemate Rubies Are Red.
A winner at Dundalk before being touched off by Forest Fairy in the Cheshire Oaks, Port Fairy was fitted with a visor for her latest assignment and tracked the pacesetting Oaks fourth You Got To Me for much of the mile and a half journey before moving towards the front passing the two-furlong marker.
The daughter of Australia was soon joined by and briefly passed by the strong-travelling Lava Stream, but Port Fairy battled back to claim Group Two honours by a neck under a power-packed Ryan Moore drive, with 9-4 favourite Kalpana beating You Got To Me to third.
With this victory Moore passed Frankie Dettori’s total of 81 winners to be come the most successful currently active jockey at the meeting.
O’Brien said: “In Chester she was a bit green and a baby. We just thought Epsom was going to come too quick for her (after she finished second in the Cheshire Oaks) so we gave her a bit of time.
“Ryan said maybe try a visor on her at home, when she was coming here, so we put a visor on her the last day, and her work really stepped up.
“She looks like she’d be a lovely Irish Oaks filly now, and she gets it well, she stays well. And Ryan was brilliant on her – he didn’t panic even when the second went by her. It was class.”
He went on: “Ryan knew the horse that made the running in Lingfield (You Got To Me) could be dangerous and he was keeping his eye on her, he was class.
“Anna (O’Brien’s daughter) bred the horse and done everything with her. She stays well, she is tough. If a filly gets a mile and a half, it’s a long way and she is brave isn’t she? She’s tough and hardy. “
Regarding Moore’s achievement in passing Dettori, O’Brien added: “It’s incredible for Ryan to have achieved what he has, and at his age (40) – he must be 10 years younger than Frankie, isn’t he?”
David O’Meara was proud of Lava Stream’s performance and said: “I’m delighted with that. Danny (Tudhope) said she idled a touch in front and that she might have preferred to have had the winner in her sights rather than hitting the front so soon.
“We were surprised by how well she travelled, she got a perfect trip round and it was a great ride. You can’t be disappointed with that.
“I wasn’t sure about the mile and a half, so there was an option of dropping back for the Nassau but it looks now like a mile and half will be perfect for her. She’s run on all sorts of ground and she seemed very happy on that today.
“We always hoped she was capable of winning a black-type race, but she’s exceeding our expectations.”
Oisin Murphy said of the third home, Kalpana: “Kalpana ran another career-best. She got the mile and a half well. It was a good, even tempo, it was a proper stamina test.”
Jayarebe holds off King’s Gambit for Hampton Court triumph
Jayarebe repelled the late thrust of hot favourite King’s Gambit to secure victory in the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot.
So impressive when winning the London Gold Cup at Newbury last month, King’s Gambit was a 2/1 market leader to successfully graduate to Group Three level under William Buick, but a tardy start put him on the back foot from the off and he was still last of all rounding the home turn.
After taking a while to find top gear once in the clear, King’s Gambit was flying at the finish, but it was too little, too late and he had to make do with the runner-up spot.
Jayarebe (7/1), who dominated his rivals in Newmarket’s Feilden Stakes before being beaten as a warm order for the Dee Stakes at Chester, was always handily positioned by Sean Levey and dug deep after hitting the front early in the straight to hold off King’s Gambit by three-quarters of a length.
Trainer Brian Meehan was landing his second winner of the week following the shock 80/1 victory of Rashabar in Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes, with Levey also doubling his tally following Rosallion’s St James’s Palace Stakes triumph on the same afternoon.
“He’s been doing all the right things at home. Chester didn’t suit him, he’s got a huge stride, I think it’s something like 26ft, which is a massive stride for a horse like this,” said the jockey.
“We know he stays, I got a great break from stall 12 and I committed early because I knew he’d stay strong to the line.
“Do you know what, it’s having the horses that have a chance of winning. They are so hard to find here, it’s so competitive.
“So far, so good; two big chances have won and there are still chances to come, so fingers crossed.”
Meehan said: “He was sitting third and Sean was able to get a breather in and that was key, it never happened at Chester and that was his undoing, along with the track, he didn’t like the track.
“Today, Sean had to be forceful to get the position, but once he did, Sean was able to take back, have a little breather and that man is riding out of his skin at the moment, it is so impressive.
“He knows the horse inside out and comes in every week and rides work. It was the same as Rosallion earlier in the week, it was a wonderful ride.”
He added of Jayarebe: “He’s getting better and is still lightly raced. With practice, he is improving and the red hood was a good addition today. It’s more about curbing his exuberance, but when we were saddling, he was calm and we’re going in the right direction.
“What more does he have to do and at this stage he is on the up. This was always the plan – it was Newmarket, Chester, then here. I always said to his owner that we would then explore an autumn campaign and then look at some of the international races for him.
“The Eclipse is a possibility as well, but we will see how he is and I’ll talk to Sean.”
On King’s Gambit, Harry Charlton said: “It looked like a disaster from furlong one – we were in the worst possible position on this round course, and he’s run monstrously well to get anywhere near them.
“You can see how good he is, and we’ll enjoy him down the line.”
Going The Distance lives up to his name
Going The Distance came from the clouds to grab victory in a thrilling renewal of the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot.
A field of 19 runners went to post for the mile-and-a-half contest, with much of the pre-race focus on Gilded Water, who was the 5/1 favourite to provide trainer William Haggas, jockey Tom Marquand and the King and Queen with back-to-back victories following Desert Hero’s memorable success 12 months ago.
Going The Distance, who won his last two starts of last season and his first of this, was a 9/1 shot for Ralph Beckett and had only Neski Sherelski behind him rounding the home turn.
Both horses made up from hand over fist in the straight and it was Going The Distance who finished just the best down the outside of runners to beat Neski Sherelski by half a length in the hands of Rossa Ryan. Gilded Water was a well-beaten 12th.
Watch every race from Royal Ascot live on Sky Sports Racing this week.