1505 Royal Ascot - King Edward VII Stakes result
1st Permian 6/1
2nd Khalidi 10/1
3rd Crystal Ocean 9/4 favourite
4th Raheen House 25/1
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Report
Permian displayed all of the battling qualities associated with a Mark Johnston-trained runner to win the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
William Buick gave the Teofilo colt a perfect ride as it paid to be prominent in the 12 furlong Group Two contest and Buick, riding his third winner of the week, was perfectly positioned to kick for home off the bend.
Several runners were looking for position ahead of the turn for home and Andrea Atzeni made a positive move going into that bend but favourite Crystal Ocean was forced to challenge four wide on the bend.
Crystal Ocean, third to Permian in the Dante Stakes at York, attempted to reel in the leader once they straightened out but never managed to claw back the advantage and eventually weakened into third.
Khalidi swept past him to secure second spot, coming from a long way behind having endured traffic problems as the field stacked up, but he was still half a length adrift at the line.
Victory saw Permian bounce back from a disappointing run in the Epsom Derby and took his seasonal tally to six wins from 12 career starts with three of those successes coming in his last four starts.
Reaction
William Buick: "Mark gave me a lot of confidence in the sense that he just wanted his horse to go forward and get across without asking him too much.
"I know Mark and the team were surprised how badly he ran in the Derby, but I couldn't help as I had no explanation really, he certainly felt like a much better horse today. It was a good performance."
Mark Johnston, registering his 40th Royal Ascot winner, said: "It's a bit of a relief to get on the scoresheet after a blank last year, our first since 1994, and I was dreading the idea of another blank so it's great.
"It's great for the horse after the disappointment in the Derby, a lot of people said it was too soon to come back so I had a lot of agonising and it was only a last-minute decision.
"William said he felt like a horse who didn't handle the track (at Epsom) which was strange as he'd run well there before, but he just felt today he felt a different horse so I think he had an off-day in the Derby - it happens.
"I'll have a think about where next, he's won two Group Twos so we need a Group One, it won't be the Irish Derby though, I can tell you that, that is too soon."
John Gosden said of the runner-up: "There was no pace and he was a little keen, he just had to wait to get where he wanted to go and the winner just got first run.
"He's run a blinder and I'm thrilled with him. He's had a lot of racing, as had the winner, and they've both run exceptional races.
"We'll just see where we are for a little bit, he's not the biggest but he's a tough cookie."
Sir Michael Stoute said of Crystal Ocean: "That was a good run and he is consistent. He will progress as he's a horse with a lot of scope.
"A mile and a half is fine for him. He's had three races behind him now so there's no excuses at all. The Dante is looking like good form."
