Royal Ascot notes: American Affair records notable win for Scotland

American Affair a first for Scotland

Until French-trained Lazzat landed Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes it had been a tough week for overseas runners at Royal Ascot, but there was a notable success for the only runner of the week trained north of the border. Lanarkshire trainer Jim Goldie won the last two races at one of his local tracks, Hamilton, last Sunday, on a Sky Bet Sunday Series card, but his week was to get even better as forty-eight hours later he landed the first Group 1 of his career, and his first Royal Ascot winner, when American Affair won the King Charles III Stakes. The former handicapper had been a regular in the Sunday Series himself last season when narrowly failing to land the £100,000 bonus for winning three races in the Series, but at Ascot on Tuesday he scooped a prize worth more than four times that amount for Goldie who part-owns the gelding with his breeder John McGrandles who commented that ‘American Affair was probably the only horse with a Glasgow postcode in his passport!’

Apart from being a huge win for his own connections, American Affair’s victory can be considered the most significant win on the Flat for any horse trained in Scotland for well over sixty years. He’s apparently the first Group 1 winner trained north of the border since the pattern system was introduced in 1971 and Gordon Brown reminds me that the biggest previous win for a Scottish-trained horse on the Flat dates from ten years before that when Rockavon caused an upset by winning the 1961 2000 Guineas at odds of 66/1 – he had been beaten in a handicap at Newcastle on his previous start. Trained by George Boyd at Dunbar east of Edinburgh, Rockavon remains the only classic winner ever to be trained in Scotland. But unlike Goldie who was at Ascot, Boyd had been unable to witness his colt’s victory first-hand as his plane was delayed by fog at Edinburgh airport. Incidentally, Timeform assessed Rockavon at 120, a rating matched by American Affair after his win on Tuesday.

Almaqam and Albert Einstein a pair to look forward to

Neither Almaqam nor Albert Einstein ran at Royal Ascot but results this week paid a big compliment to both colts and their next appearances are eagerly awaited. Where Almaqam appears next will very much depend on the ground, according to his trainer Ed Walker, and with the going on the firm side that was the reason he didn’t take his chance in Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes. He had finished sixth on his only start on ground firmer than good at Royal Ascot last year in the St James’s Palace Stakes. But the result of the Prince of Wales’s reflected very well on Almaqam as he had inflicted the only defeat to date on the impressive winner Ombudsman when making all the running to beat him a length and three quarters on good to soft ground in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes. Ombudsman, who was giving 3 lb to Almaqam at Sandown, improved his rating to a top-class 130 this week, but Almaqam, currently rated 126, has a progressive profile too with the scope to close that gap. He holds entries in the Eclipse and King George, as well as the Princess of Wales’s Stakes in between.

In Albert Einstein’s case, it’s not so much that his own form that received a boost at Royal Ascot, but the fact that his two-year-old stablemates from Ballydoyle enjoyed such a successful meeting. Albert Einstein looked an exciting prospect on his debut at Naas and confirmed that impression when following up in ready fashion in the Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh which made him the one to beat in the Coventry Stakes. But a sprained joint soon put paid to Royal Ascot plans with Aidan O’Brien being forced to give him ‘an easy three weeks’. That left the placed horses from the Marble Hill to represent Albert Einstein’s form at Ascot with Power Blue and Andab finishing fifth and fourth respectively in the Coventry. But O’Brien still won the Coventry, for the eleventh time, with the smart Gstaad (111p), while Charles Darwin (110p) impressed in the Norfolk and the filly True Love (102p) did well to win the Queen Mary. All three are good prospects, but their trainer has made no secret of the fact he regards Albert Einstein (currently rated 107p) as much the best of the bunch. Hopefully it won’t be too long before he gets the chance to prove it.

Windsor Castle makeover

After every Cheltenham Festival, it seems, there are no shortage of opinions on which races should or shouldn’t feature and which ones could do with some tweaking. The Royal Ascot programme doesn’t generate the same debate but that’s not to say the races are set in stone and this year’s Windsor Castle Stakes will be the last run it its current format. Maybe Eve Johnson Houghton will regret that more than most as she won it for a second time on Wednesday, with Havana Hurricane’s victory coming three years after Chipotle won it for the same yard. Chipotle had cost just 10,000 guineas as a yearling and Havana Hurricane, another son of Havana Gold, even less at 9,000 guineas. The Windsor Castle, which has had listed status since 2004, could be considered a ‘poor man’s Norfolk’, compared with the meeting’s Group 2 for colts and geldings over the same trip, but its recent winners have also included the likes of Little Big Bear and Big Evs as well as future stallions Washington DC, Ardad and Soldier’s Call. Washington DC is the sire of American Affair, while another former winner, Pharoah’s Delight, is the grandam of another of this week’s Group 1 winners, Commonwealth Cup winner Time For Sandals.

The new-look Windsor Castle will be run over six furlongs instead of five and, in a bid to differentiate it from the Group 2 Coventry over that trip, it will be restricted to horses whose sires won over at least seven furlongs at two or a mile at three or older. The BHA justified the change as being part of a wider move to strengthen the middle-distance and staying divisions. But Royal Ascot already has a listed two-year-old race, the Chesham Stakes over seven furlongs, for two-year-olds with more stamina in their pedigrees and, in any case, Royal Ascot’s place in the calendar makes it much more of an obvious target for speedy and precocious youngsters than for later-developing types. This year’s Norfolk Stakes had the smallest field of Royal Ascot’s four Group races for two-year-olds with 15 runners, but presumably that will increase next year when colts and geldings will have nowhere else to go over five furlongs (fillies still have the Queen Mary). Another likely consequence is that it will reduce the size of the Coventry field, with runners that might not want to take on the best two-year-olds in that race having a lower-grade alternative, provided of course that they meet the entry requirements.

More from Sporting Life

• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.