Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot report, reaction and free video replay: Khaadem springs 80/1 surprise

There was a messy start to an international renewal of the six furlong contest with Cannonball unseating his rider as the gates opened and Run For Freedom and Hong Kong challenger Wellington amongst those to miss the break.

That didn't bother favourite Highfield Princess, second in the King's Stand Stakes on Tuesday, as she jumped sharply and took the stands' side group along at a merry clip. There she remained but it became apparent as the field entered the business end of the race that those towards the middle of the track had the upper hand.

Sacred had come through and looked to hold the winning hand only for Khaadem, under Jamie Spencer, to scythe through the pack and cut her down in the shadow of the post.

Highfield Princess finished third, 'winning' the race on her side.

It was an eighth career success for Khaadem - matched at 270/1 on the Betfair Exchange - but a first at the top level for the seven-year-old who had come up short on eight previous attempts in Group 1 company.

It had been a long time between Royal Ascot winners for his jockey but, rather like the proverbial buses, two came along in quick succession with Spencer having struck aboard 50/1 shot Witch Hunter in the Buckingham Palace Stakes, Friday's finale.

"I felt no pressure, I followed Frankie (Dettori on Kinross) and Tom (Marquand Sacred) and could see Tom was going well at half-way," said Spencer. "So just like in a cycling race you let him do the work for you and you hope when you pull out you have a little bit to go and fire.

"It's difficult for me to put into words what Jim and Fitri (Hay, owners of Khaadem) have been like as friends to me for a long time. Even my children are watching now, and in years before, when I was flying at this meeting, they were too young to understand, now it's nice when you get texts saying well done.

"Winning Group 1s is hard, and getting on the horses in Group 1s is the hardest part, but it's a fantastic day and I'm going to enjoy it. I sit beside Frankie (in the weighing room) and I'm going to hold it (this win) to him tomorrow. It was looking bleak in the last few days having to listen to him, and even one of my friends said 'he's going to be insufferable after Coppice won (Friday's Sandringham Stakes)' - at least I've had a little bit of a fightback."

A delighted Hills added: “He does have his quirks, but most sprinters do. It’s just amazing that we’ve got to where we have now at his age. At the end of the day, he was down at 104 before his last start. He was in the Wokingham, but I just really wanted to run him over six again. Last year, he won a Group 2 over five and looked to really blast down. I was really keen to take the blinkers off him and try and train him like a proper horse, do it the right way and try and teach him again how to just race him properly and drop him in, so I thought Jamie was the perfect jockey for it today.”

On getting Spencer off before the start, he said: “With this horse, anything can happen, so I wasn’t too worried. Last year, he raced without the jockey!”

He added: “I’ve always had massive faith in this horse, that’s why I’ve kept him for so long. He won a Group 2 last year over five, and that’s what we were sort of doing. But this year, I just wanted to try and race him properly again, drop him in, make sure we got the six well. He won the Stewards’ Cup as a three-year-old, the trip was never a concern – he’s a horse who is very fast. He’s a horse that’s going to hopefully compete at the top level.

“He’s got his quirks, but most good sprinters do. He’s a high-energised horse, who has just taken time to come to himself. Jamie Insole rides him out every morning and there’s been a great team effort with this horse through his career. It’s great, it really is just the icing on the cake today.

“We’ve been trying to win this for a while and had some good chances over the years. We’ve had a tough week this week and to win a race like this – The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee – is just fantastic.”

There were mixed emotions for the connections of the placed horses with Jason Hart, jockey of Highfield Princess commenting: "Funny kind of thing, I don't how many times we have run against Khaadem, but every time we have beaten him. Maybe it is different track position, and they were always kind of up on me on the other side.

"I felt her battle for me all the way to the line, and she has run her race."

While William Haggas, trainer of Sacred, said: "It is mixed emotions. I am thrilled with the way she has run, but gutted that she has got caught. She got left a bit in front, that was the problem, she was travelling so well, she has gone to win her race but she didn't win!

"That's racing, she has run a great race and I am very proud of her."

The start completed a miserable trip for the Australian based Cannonball's connections as their charge had finished last in the King's Stand Stakes but some of his backers were compensated with Betfair Sportsbook refunding singles.

Another Australian challenger, Artorius, failed to improve on last year's close third but ran a fine race in fourth; he was followed home by fellow Australian The Astrologist, running his best race since arriving in the UK.

Artorius' trainer Sam Freedman told reporters “He has run another good, honest race.

"It probably didn’t pan out exactly how we wanted. He began really well – he had two stalls empty next to him which got him into a great spot. He probably needed something in front of him for that last 100-150m. James (McDonald) got him into a good spot and he finished off really well. He has run another good race against the best sprinters over here and, if that’s a bad day for Artorius, he is still running fourth in a G1. I would say that’s him off to stud now and it has been a pleasure.”

Timeform Analysis

David Cleary's view:

As the great Timeform handicapper Derek Adams so often said, there is no such thing as a fluke. There are, though, results that take more explaining than others, and the success of 80/1-shot Khaadem in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes very much falls into that category.

Khaadem had had plenty of goes in Group 1 company and had always previously come up short, though he had run one of his better races when fourth in the 2020 running of the then Diamond Jubilee.

So what made the difference to bring about a clear career best for the seven year old?

The most obvious thing to mention is the presence of Jamie Spencer in the saddle for the first time. Spencer takes a view when riding on the straight course at Ascot. It's generally that dropping a horse right out is the percentage call, given the leaders tend to go faster than ideal. That was the view he took with Khaadem and it paid dividends in spades.

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