She’d been off the racecourse for 300 days but that lack of action didn’t stop Aidan O’Brien’s star filly Love in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes as she battled on through the last furlong to beat last year’s Breeders cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Audarya.
In addition to her lengthy break this was the first time Love had been asked to take on male horses but her task in that regard was made easier when John and Thady Gosden’s star gelding Lord North was withdrawn following concerns that the ground would be too firm for him.
In the event it was another filly that provided the stiffest competition for Love and as they reached the final two furlongs Love, who had made all in the race, held a narrow advantage over James Fanshawe’s filly Audarya who was also making her seasonal debut. The pair stayed in that position to the line with Love always just on top and nothing else quite getting to them.
O’Brien was keen to praise Love’s battling qualities after the race “she gives everything, there is nothing left, nothing spared,” he said adding “she has all the attributes of a Galileo.”
He was also keen to stress that he felt they’d made the right decision avoiding “bad ground” earlier in the season in order to ensure she was ready for her summer and autumn campaign.
It was a landmark win for Aidan O’Brien who was notching up his 75th Royal Ascot winner, equalling the record of Sir Henry Cecil and the odds must be short that he will notch up a century at some point in the future. The Irish trainer paid tribute to Cecil in addition to acknowledging the debt he feels he owes the rest of the Ballydoyle/Coolmore team saying he was in a “very privileged position and very grateful to be in this position.”
Earlier in the day a possible candidate for the Melbourne Cup 2021 emerged in the shape of Godolphin’s Kemari, a three year old gelding by Dubawi trained by Charlie Appleby who was ridden by William Buick to take the Queen’s Vase.
“Hopefully he’ll make up into a Cup horse for next year,” said the trainer looking further ahead but he added “…three year olds in the Melbourne Cup, they’ve produced the goods.”
