the (un)royal Royal Ascot of 2020.

​I thought I would give Royal Ascot a miss this year. Several reasons why: Royal Ascot without a royal presence or royal procession breaches the trades description act, first comes to mind. It is like an Ant & Dec’s summer spectacular without the Geordie double act in attendance. And I never thought I would ever say it but Royal Ascot without the clothes horsing, the tedium of the glamour, hats that in the truest of senses do not qualify as hats, the always annoying fashion experts, the antiquated Ascot dress code that is so unfair on the male gender, and the quaffing for the sake of the ‘handover’ of the latest cocktail abomination, is, god-darn it, the very essence of what the Royal meeting is about.
I was also intending to give it a miss this year because of the government’s choreographing of the image of fear they continue to need to peddle, that Covid-19 remains the greatest risk to public health since the Great Plague of London, when in reality we are all beginning to realise that it is nothing of the kind.
But the weather is appalling this week and I found the diary bereft of any alternatives. So my hand was forced.
Jockeys are athletes, they should not be wearing masks. Martin Dwyer looked positively faint on the podium after winning on Pyledriver. I fear a National Hunt jockey will keel over after pushing and scrubbing a recalcitrant chaser for 3-miles. But enough said.
As I have said many times before, Royal Ascot before the Derby makes perfectly good sense. Having the Derby in July gives the flat a pivotal point in time, as does having only one entry stage six days before the race. The Derby this year will be a much more interesting race because of the decision to knock on the head the original entry stages, with Pyledriver and Highland Chief to name but two colts who went into Royal Ascot as unlikely Derby horses but who are now interesting possible runners. Guineas beginning of May, Royal Ascot first or second week in June, Derby and Oaks in July. There is a nice rhythm to the spacing, at least to my mind. The Coronation Cup could remain at Epsom as a standalone major race on the first Saturday in June or last Saturday in May.
Stradivarius, of course, will be the highlight of the week. What is a little bit sad about Stradivarius, as it is with all great staying horses, is that seemingly to prove themselves in the category reserved for the likes of Frankel, Brigadier Gerard and Ribot, he must be aimed at the Arc. The shame is that there is no other staying race in the calendar anywhere in the world to match the Ascot Gold Cup. The obvious race to enhance in prestige is the Prix Du Cadran or, and this is a hobby horse of mine, declassify the St.Leger as a classic and enhance its prestige by making it the most valuable race run in Britain and Ireland, opening it up, obviously, to older horses. Incidentally, the other part of this eccentricity is to upgrade the Eclipse into the final classic of the season and excluding older horses from running in it.
I have to agree with Richard Hoiles’ comment that the acceleration Stradivarius produced at the two-furlong marker when passing Nayef Road was on a par to anything Frankel produced. If the opposition in the 2020 Gold Cup was of a higher standard, I would be inclined to say it was a performance similar to several of Frankel’s best efforts, especially when winning the Juddmonte at York. To quicken as he did at the pointy end of a marathon test on soft ground was something to behold.
I somehow doubt we shall see him attempt the 4-timer. He was embarrassingly colty in the preliminaries yesterday and though he conducted himself in exemplary fashion once jocked-up, there comes a time, to quote Aidan O’Brien, when he must pass on his genes to the next generation. You can be darn sure that if he were to win the Arc the covering sheds will be his next destination.
It will be a sad day for Frankie come October if he has to chose between Enable and Stradivarius, won’t it? It is almost cruel of John Gosden to ask him to make the choice.
Normally a winner for a female jockey at the Royal meeting would be the stand-out moment, yet Stradivarius outshone even the always sunny Hayley Turner. Not that it is anything other than a delight to witness her winning a big race. She is a wonderful asset to the sport and I only wish trainers and owners would use her more often, especially in the big handicaps. Let’s hope one of the other girls manage a winner this week, then female jockeys winning at the Royal meeting will stop being uncommon and will become unworthy of reference to gender.
I am an ardent, at least when it is convenient to me, traditionalist. But I did not sing with the choir when it was petitioned to keep the Queen Alexandria Stakes as a Royal Ascot race. It is always by far and away the poorest quality race at a meeting that prides itself on the quality of horse on show. I would argue that the Ascot Stakes and, though less so, the Gold Cup, would be enhanced by the removal of the Queen Alexandria.
Having said that, I would fight tooth and nail to preserve the race. I would transfer the race to King George and Queen Elizabeth day, keeping the distance as it is, increasing the prize money and tinkering with the conditions to encourage a big field of runners to enhance its appeal as a betting medium. King George day could do with a bit of oomph applied to it, especially as these days when the French seem to ignore it and the Epsom Derby winner goes elsewhere.