Lightning Spear and Sheikhzayedroad head up Ascot team

18 June 2017

TRAINER David Simcock is looking forward to Lightning Spear renewing acquaintances with top miler Ribchester in the curtain-raising Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

The Trillium Place horse was third and Ribchester second behind Minding in last October's Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Dat at Ascot. Half a length split Lightning Spear and the runner-up that afternoon.

The pair faced up to one another again last month in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury where Ribchester ran out a worthy winner by almost four lengths in soft ground.

But Simcock said: "I would probably look more at the QEII last autumn when he finished a length in front of us and we came from an awful long way back on the wrong side.
"If you took the Lockinge at face value we're going to get beat. If you look at the QEII there's a good chance we can get very close.
"We know we'll be better on better ground - that's not to say Ribchester won't be better on better ground.
"But hopefully there will be a bit more pace in the Queen Anne and we're just looking forward to running Lightning Spear.
"It's a lovely race to kick off the meeting and a lovely race to be represented in.
"We've been lucky - we had Trade storm run in the Queen Anne and lightning Spear was third in it last year and ran very well. That was his first run for us."

Sheikhzayedroad is the other Simcock-trained runner who will be in Group 1 action at the Royal meeting.

The seasoned performer will have another crack at the Gold Cup in which he was third to order of st George a year ago.

'SZR' now eight, ran a good race last time out, finishing third in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup in which he was beaten by only a length and a half.

David said: "He seems in good form - but he's never going to give you many clues in his work. We know he stays two and a half miles from his run in the race last year. He's very consistent.
 

"Your expectations of him are you know he's going to run a good race. Whether that's good enough, I don't know."

If Lightning Spear and Sheikhzayedroad's talents are widely recognised by racing followers, there are a couple of progressive younger horses who are likely to be in action at the meeting.

Bless Him will be declared for the Britannia Handicap, while Good Omen is scheduled to contest the King George V Handicap. They are the last two races on Thursday.

David said: "Bless Him is in great form. He is a very talented horse at home. He has been frustrating the last twice.

"If I'm brutally honest, I've probably been frustrated with him every time he has run. But he has plenty of talent and you'd be hopeful he'll run a big race. I'm hoping a big field with a bit of pace will suit him.

"Good Omen is training well and his win at Doncaster last time will have done his confidence the world of good. The mile and a half won't be a problem. Whether he's handicapped to win a race like this I'm not so sure."

Several other Trillium Place horses carry entries for Ascot including Island Vision (Sandringham), Fierce Impact (Queen Vase), while Polybius is in the Wokingham Handicap on the final afternoon. Simcock said of the latter: "He'll love the ground and the track will suit him."