David Egan wins on Bucanero Fuerte

Royal Ascot preview: David Egan on his rides

By Graham Clark

Horse Racing

Mon June 16, 2025 · 4w ago

David Egan talks Graham Clark through some of his main rides at Royal Ascot next week.

Plenty of jockeys will head to Royal Ascot next week convinced they have a strong book of rides, but the harsh reality is only a few can count themselves lucky to be in that position.

One man that has a genuine reason to be excited about his chances of tasting success across the five-day marathon is Group One-winning rider David Egan.

Aside from a host of live chances in his role as retained rider to Amo Racing, the 25-year-old has also acquired a number of solid outside rides.

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However, it is for his current employer that he hopes to make a statement on the opening day of the meeting on Tuesday aboard Bucanero Fuerte in the King Charles III Stakes.

After failing to fire at stud the son of Wootton Bassett was given a second chance on the track, which was immediately rewarded with a Listed victory at Naas last month.

And on the back of that success it has seen connections splash the cash to supplement the Adrian Murray-trained four year old, who finished third in the 2023 Coventry Stakes, for a tilt at the five-furlong Group One dash.

Egan said: “He had a nice comeback run to win and there is a reason the team are running him in that race as he would have probably have qualified for running in a Wokingham, which he also has an entry in, off top weight.

“He felt great last time out. He went off to stud, and while that was a failed career there, he seems to have bounced back. He is a horse that loves his racing and he showed that at Naas. Not many horses do what he has done and come back and look so genuine and tough. He is a horse that I’m looking forward to.

“I was going into Royal Ascot last year thinking he was my best chance of a winner. He obviously had issues travelling over and that really set back his whole season.

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"He had three runs afterwards, but he was never quite the same horse he was early in the spring as a three year old. He seems to be back to the regular Bucanero Fuerte we all know.”

While any victory at the Royal meeting is a welcome one those achieved at the highest level are always that bit more special.

In recent seasons Egan has built up a solid relationship on the track with trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam, a partnership he will bid to further strengthen with victory aboard Kon Tiki in the Group One Coronation Stakes on Friday.

Having steered the daughter of Night Of Thunder to Listed glory in the Michael Seely Memorial Fillies’ Stakes at York last month he believes she can make her presence felt at the top table after impressing in a racecourse gallop on Newmarket’s July Course yesterday.

Egan said: “She is a horse that I rode a lot in the spring and she has done nothing but really blossom and Jane is good with these types of fillies. It was a nice stepping stone at York where she won very well. The distance of the victory wasn’t substantial, but the way she quickened up caught me by surprise if I’m honest.

“I thought she was a horse that was more of a lengthener rather than a quickener, but she took me there easily. The race might have fallen apart a little bit, and she got left there lonely a long way out on her first time on grass, but she has definitely come on for that run.

“I thought she quickened up quite nicely past her regular lead horse (Crown Board) on the July Course and he is always a good guide.

“Put it this way I had a bigger smile on me this morning going into Royal Ascot than I did the morning I galloped her before she ran at York which is a good sign. She is a lovely filly and I definitely think she is good enough. Mr (Peter) Harris has been in the industry for so long and it would be nice to give him a big winner.”

The Royal meeting can often be the launchpad to stardom for two year olds, something he hopes will be the case for Power Blue in the Group Two Coventry Stakes.

After making a winning debut at the Curragh in March the son of Space Blues, who also hails from the Murray yard, has since been beaten twice in two further starts at the track. But despite those reversals, the most recent when he was beaten into second by Albert Einstein in the Group Three Marble Hill Stakes, Egan believes the best is yet to come from Power Blue.

He added: “A two year old I love is Power Blue, who just beat Albert Einstein, and he will go for the Coventry Stakes. He already has plenty of experience and he is a big strong horse. He will get seven furlongs so stamina won’t be an issue for me. He is a horse that handles any sort of ground. He is a horse that I like a lot. Whatever he does at Ascot later on in the year he is going to be fighting at the top table I think."

But Power Blue is not the only two year old Egan is looking forward to with the Karl Burke-trained Love Olivia another he believes could outrun her odds in the Group Two Queen Mary Stakes.

He added: “Love Olivia is a filly that ran a bit free in the Marygate at York into a tailwind and wasn’t beaten overly far. If she can run her race the right way around she could run well in the Queen Mary, but we know it will be a tough race.”

Making up over a third of the races at the Royal meeting are competitive handicaps, which can often be the trickiest puzzles to solve.

Handicappers to follow at the Royal Meeting

Egan has selected three horses he feels should be well equipped to go well in their respective races granted a bit of luck.

He said: “I thought Kayhana, who was purchased privately out of Dermot Weld’s yard, looked like a lovely filly, and she will go to the Kensington Palace.

“She was narrowly beaten into second last time carrying a big weight, and we all know how competitive Irish handicaps are.

“I’d say that this is a race they have earmarked for her and Mr (Gavin) Cromwell has got a very good strike rate at Royal Ascot.

“Gleneagle Bay has been purchased for the Buckingham Palace Stakes. He was narrowly beaten over the same seven furlongs in the Victoria Cup.

“That race is normally the main trial for this race and the fact he didn’t win means we might just have a little bit up our sleeve and you need every bit of that for Royal Ascot.

“If Tony Montana can travel away nice, and be comfortable on that quick ground over a mile, and be in his comfort zone at half way he won’t be far away in the Royal Hunt Cup.

“It is terrific to have so many runners as you need bullets to fire to hit the bullseye. Hopefully we can not just get one, but get a couple, however one winner would be fantastic."

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