ROYAL ASCOT 2021: IN CONCLUSION.

​Though it lacked a genuine ‘wow’ moment, I thought the 2021 Royal Ascot meeting set a high standard from Palace Pier to Stratum. It was a shame for Alan King that the rain did not come a day earlier as the Gold Cup was diminished without the presence of Trueshan and given the ground of Friday and Saturday he would have gone close to winning if his stamina held out. But that is a case what if and maybes. If the rain hadn’t come to the party perhaps every result on the Friday and Saturday might have been different.
The best performance of the week, to my mind, was Beautiful Tonight in the Hardwicke. She rather knocked my eye out with her performance and given similar ground conditions both the King George & Queen Elizabeth and the Arc are easily within her compass. If Beautiful Tonight and Love where at a similar fitness level, it was both horses first run of the season, the latter will have to improve quite a lot to out-stay the former over 12-furlongs.
In my estimation the best two-year-olds to run at the meeting were in the Chesham and I would back Her Majesty’s Reach for the Moon to gain revenge on Point Lonsdale if the two should meet again this season as the O’Brien horse had horses to race against while the Queen’s horse was out on a wing and in need of company.
The stewards got the Commonwealth Cup inquiry correct, though it was harsh to give Oisin Murphy 4-days suspension when Jim Crowley only got 6-days for a far more serious offence the day before. At no point did Murphy put Dettori and his mount in any danger whereas Ryan Moore had to snatch-up Roman Empire to avoid clipping heels. The main discussion point, though, and one the B.H.A. choose to ignore, is that there is no great deterrent, especially in important races, to put the emphasis on a jockey keeping his horse galloping in a straight line, allowing them to take the easier option of drifting into or across rivals. No jockey sets out to endanger his rivals or their horses but the imperative should be to put down the whip, take hold of both reins, in order to go in a straight line. I thought Crowley would get a 10-day suspension and was surprised at the leniency of the stewards but I was more surprised Murphy got 4-days as he made strenuous efforts to keep his horse straight.
Forget criticising Frankie for getting into a bit of bother on Stradivarius. If the horse was on his A-game, which I am convinced he wasn’t, the horse would have made up lengths on Subjectivist once in the clear. As it was, he couldn’t find the speed or energy to get past the runner-up or 3rd, let alone gain on the winner. I admit I wasn’t a fan of Subjectivist before Thursday but in my estimation, for what it is worth, he was better winner of the race than any of Stradivarius’ three wins. Joe Fanning’s hardest job during the race was pulling the horse up.
Royal Ascot is Royal Ascot. It is not flat racing’s Olympics. It is not flat racing’s Cheltenham Festival. It is Royal Ascot. It is about royalty, majestic racing, flowers and fashion and men dressed out-doors as if going-on after racing to a society wedding. Top-hats are stupid head-gear and t.v. presenters sporting them, especially at the start, looks less like a homage to Victoriana and more like a comedy sketch character who has wandered out of the wrong door at Ealing studios. 
The main reason Royal Ascot is a standalone event in the racing calendar is, and this really applies to the whole of the flat racing season, no horse is crowned champion at any distance or in any age group. The reason Royal Ascot is neither the Olympics nor flat racing’s equivalent to the Cheltenham Festival is that those two events produce champions. We know the horse that is the Champion hurdler or 2-mile chaser, we know who is the gold medal winner in the 100-metres or marathon. At Royal Ascot we get to admire good-class horses fighting out good-class races, yet every race, even the Group 1’s, are races on a pathway to somewhere else. Even ‘Champions Day’ does not produce equine champions. It is why the flat narrative is so confusing. The jumps season has a start, a middle and an ending, with the champions crowned at the back-end of the season. The B.H.A. should consider redefining the flat season so that the calendar produces something similar. Just a thought.
Though I am not as cock-a-hoop as Ed Chamberlain at the news I.T.V. will be televising all 14-races at the Breeders’ Cup this season, Ed and his team should be congratulated for their presentation of the sport last week. Yes, I find the fashion an intrusion and I don’t think its coverage engages outsiders to the point they will want to sample a day out at their local race-meeting and I would prefer to see more of the horses before and after the races, yet one and all should be congratulated for not once commenting on the disparity of racegoers not wearing masks and, especially jockeys, those in the paddock having to wear them. It is mere theatre and some point it has to be mentioned. If not, jockeys might still be wearing them come the next Royal Ascot.