The 8-5 favorite, Los Angeles, was struggling in mid-stretch, so the door was open for an upset in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1), the marquee event of the Royal Ascot meeting. Ombudsman was ready to roll but had nowhere to run.
William Buick, a masterful big-race rider, was bottled up near the back of the field. He waited for the room to clear before moving the Ombudsman outside, and the 4-year-old son of Night of Thunder appeared from the clouds. Ombudsman accelerated past five horses and drew away for a two-length score over the 7-year-old gelding Anmaat as Los Angeles faded to fifth of eight.
“He would have been a very unlucky loser because I had to switch a couple of times, and he won with plenty left in hand,” Buick said. “It’s so special to win here. This place tames lions.”
The Ombudsman closed like a cheetah and went 1¼ miles in 2:02.51, 1.89 seconds faster than the track record, one of five broken on substantial ground on Wednesday. Trainer John Gosden also achieved a milestone with his 70th win at Royal Ascot, including seven in the Prince of Wales’s.
Ombudsman paid $16.80 for his fifth victory in six career starts for owner/breeder Godolphin and earned a berth in the 1½-mile Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Gosden has six trophies in the year-end championships.
“We got the luck in the straight as he had to wait for the gaps,” Gosden said. “He has an extraordinary turn of foot, and the [fast] fractions meant that we could run them all down in the end. William was patient, and he was rewarded.”
Gosden, 74, and Thady Gosden, his 30-year-old son and co-trainer, are on a tremendous roll, with four wins in the meeting’s first two days. In the preceding race, they scored with a 6-1 shot Crimson Advocate in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares. On Tuesday, their colt Field of Gold crushed the St. James’s Palace Stakes (G1) and drew comparisons with some of the century’s best milers.
Los Angeles was sweating profusely on an unusually hot day for England. He never seemed comfortable under Ryan Moore, who rode him hard from the gate. He tracked the blazing pace of stablemate Continuous before packing it in. Trainer Aidan O’Brien’s star usually throws a knockout punch in the stretch, but this time he was one-paced, flatfooted, and lost on a TKO.
Wednesday’s first race was marred by the death of Harry’s Girl, who suffered a catastrophic leg injury in the Queen Mary Stakes (G2) for 2-year-old fillies. Sean Levey pulled her up after she broke down in the midstretch of the 5-furlong dash.
Longshots Docklands and American Affair picked up automatic spots Tuesday for the Breeders’ Cup. Docklands’ 25-1 shocker in the mile Queen Anne Stakes (G1) qualified him for the Mile (G1). American Affair (11-1) won the 5-furlong King Charles III Stakes (G1) to put him in the Turf Sprint (G1).
Thursday’s 5-furlong Norfolk Stakes (G2) for 2-year-olds is the meeting’s fourth and final “Win and You’re In” race. The winner got into the Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) on Oct. 31.
