Brilliant Battaash looks to retain King’s Stand Stakes crown

Battaash was an honourable second both times when Blue Point won the King’s Stand Stakes in 2018 and 2019, so it was a case of third time lucky when he beat his stable-mate Equilateral decisively 12 months ago, after COVID restrictions had denied him his usual prep run.

He goes to post without a run under his belt once again, but that isn’t a worry to his trainer, who points to five first-time-out wins in the five seasons he has raced.

Charlie Hills said: “Battaash came in a couple of weeks later than usual this year, so we were never going to fit in a prep run, but I couldn’t be happier with him. They found a tiny hairline fracture in a sesamoid when he had his usual MOT at the end of last year, but that was attended to in December. 

“They’ve done a great job with him at Shadwell over the winter, and spring was so awful that coming back later has probably helped him. We’ve taken our time and he hasn’t missed a beat.”

With devoted groom Bob Grace retired now, Battaash is looked after by John ‘Bluey’ Cannon, who also looked after the dam and so is another stalwart at Wetherdown House, but little else has changed. 

Hills said: “You might notice that he walks around the parade ring a bit quicker with ‘Bluey’ leading him, but nothing has changed really. Dane O’Neill still rides him in all of his work and neither he nor I could be any happier with the way his preparation has gone.” 

Kevin Ryan’s triple Group 1 winner Glass Slippers, last seen winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland, misses the race to wait for Saturday’s Diamond Jubilee Stakes, but Battaash could still face formidable opposition from the north.

Tim Easterby’s impressive three-year-old York winner Winter Power has bags of speed and is held in the highest regard. She remains something of an unknown quantity and receives both age and sex allowances. She heads the northern pack, but there is real strength in numbers behind her.

John Quinn is two-handed with Liberty Beach, who won Haydock’s Temple Stakes in the absence of Battaash, and Keep Busy, second to Glass Slippers in the Flying Five and the mount of Ryan Moore again. So too is Nigel Tinkler, with three-year-olds Acklam Express and Ubettabelieveit. Michael Dods’ Que Amoro, who chased home Battaash at York last year, and the David Griffiths-trained veteran Ornate complete the team.

The two challengers from the United States also merit respect. Maven, who travelled over for the Norfolk Stakes in 2019 only to be withdrawn on account of soft ground, races for 11-time Royal Ascot winner Wesley Ward, while Extravagant Kid, who was a close fourth behind Glass Slippers at Keeneland and won Dubai’s Al Quoz Sprint over 6f on turf as an eight-year-old in March, represents Irishman Brendan Walsh.

Ward, who won the 2017 King’s Stand with the brilliant Lady Aurelia, said: “When Maven ran in an allowance race at Keeneland in April, we felt he was a bit short fitness-wise. On the day he bounced out in front and when they came to him, I thought he was going to surrender, but he just took off again. 

“I was delighted and then once I saw the numbers, it inspired me to put him on the team for Royal Ascot. He will have to move forward from that again to be in the mix, but I think he is entitled to do so.”

While winners of Battaash’s age are not uncommon (Sole Power, Takeover Target and The Tatling are recent seven-year-old winners), no horse aged eight or more has won in at least 90 years.

Walsh, who has booked Frankie Dettori, has been training in America since 2011, but he is very familiar with the scene over here, having worked for the Irish National Stud and the Kildangan Stud besides spending several years with trainer Mark Wallace in Newmarket. He also clearly knows how to travel a top horse, for he has also won a UAE Derby in Dubai.

His representative James Bredin, racing manager for owner DARRS Inc. said: “Extravagant Kid is doing great. I flew out to Dubai to saddle him, and he looks the same now as he did then. He is eight years of age now, so he is a great traveller. I think the key to shipping a horse is that you have to keep them eating and drinking – and he has done all that.

 “We opted for the King’s Stand Stakes because Ryan [Moore] felt the strong uphill finish over five furlongs would really suit him. It probably plays like a six-furlong race anyway, but if it turns out we have got it wrong, we will blame Ryan!”

Last year’s Darley July Cup winner Oxted drops back to five furlongs on something of a retrieval mission, with Roger Teal optimistic of a better showing, while Andrew Balding is looking forward to running Haydock Listed winner King’s Lynn for The Queen.

Balding, who also saddles smart handicapper Stone Of Destiny, said: “We experimented with the trip and I think dropping King’s Lynn back to five furlongs has worked well. I think he’s entitled to continue improving as he learns to sprint and given that he’s lightly raced. It’s different going, but he was effective on fast ground last year.”

Arecibo, Harry’s Bar and Glamorous Anna complete a field of 16.