Huge amounts of cheering
greeted the victory of Riposte, trained by Lady Jane Cecil, widow of master
trainer Sir Henry Cecil who died on June 11 having sent out a record 75 winners
at Royal Ascot.
Lady Cecil, welcoming her
first Royal Ascot winner, said: " First of all, that was for Henry, the
Prince (Khalid Abdullah - the owner of Riposte) and all of the staff at Warren
Place - for team Cecil.
"I don't really have
the words to say what I am feeling right now. I think people will probably have
a good idea. Henry was just adored by so many people. People who had never met
him just loved him.
"We hardly dared
dream that we would have a winner but, at the beginning of the week, I thought
that this was one the best teams we had going into Ascot for a while and that
Henry would have been relishing this. Everyone knows how he loved Ascot, not
only the fashion but the racing and everything.
"Keeping busy is what
is keeping us all going -if we had nothing to do, then I think we would all
fall to bits.
"Tuesday was very
hard. Henry adored Ascot - he was so looking forward to Royal Ascot with a good
team of horses. I am just so pleased that team Cecil managed to get this win
for him.
"I don't have
the words (to describe what I felt when Riposte won). She was slowly away which
gave us a few moments of worry but she did it very well. She was the winner
from quite some way out which was quite scary.
"I am sorry, my head
is in a complete spin. Henry had been planning for Royal Ascot, with some plans
from last year and definitely from the spring. We are just carrying on what he
wanted.
"We have focused on
this week. It is the most important week of the whole year for any training
establishment - we haven't got to the end of the week yet.
"That reception that
Riposte got was for him."
Tom Queally, the winning
jockey, commented: "It means an awful lot to everybody. So many people
work so hard.
"It has been a tough,
tough week and I know that a lot of people are struggling, emotionally as well
as everything else. It's great that Riposte did it as well as she did and I am
sure Henry is looking down, helping us.
"She showed a turn of
foot. I thought her forte would be stamina but she quickened up into it very
well. She was a little slowly away - I wanted to be a little bit handier - but
she was in front where it mattered."
Khalid Abdullah said:
"We lost him (Sir Henry Cecil) and I don't know what to say. Lady Jane is
doing very well and I hope that will continue."
'DELIGHTED
TO BE SECOND', SAYS AIDAN AFTER CECIL WIN
As racing comes to terms
with the premature loss through cancer of Sir Henry Cecil, any winner from his
Warren Place stables is greeted with a sense of poignancy.
Hence it was that
Riposte's victory in today's Ribblesdale Stakes was universally applauded,
including by those who finished in the places.
Taking second was Just
Pretending, trained by Aidan O'Brien, who said: "I'm delighted to be
second. Our filly ran very well - she wears a hood because when we put it on
her at home it helps her." O'Brien had no plan for the filly, although she
holds a number of engagements at ten and 12 furlongs in coming weeks.
Third place went to Elik,
who is trained by Sir Michael Stoute and is owned by Nurlan Bizakov, a
businessman from Kazakhstan who is establishing a European racing and breeding
operation from his Hesmonds Stud base in Sussex. His best horse to date has
been Asker Tau, but today's result took him into the winners' enclosure at
Royal Ascot for the first time.
With the breeding sheds in
mind, he said: "I'm very pleased with that - before the race I thought
that if she won I would be overwhelmed, but I'm happy because this race has a
wonderful record for producing top broodmares. Even fillies that are placed in
it can do very well at stud, and I hope that is the case this time.
"I believe she will
be better over a longer trip, but one day she will be retired to my stud."
He added: "I have two
more runners this week. Ollie Olga is an outsider in tomorrow's Coronation
Stakes - although I hope the bookmakers are wrong - and Tinga runs in the
Chesham Stakes on Saturday. I fancy she will run a big race."
3.05pm
Ribblesdale Stakes (Group 2)
£150,000
total prize fund. For 3yo fillies, 1m 4f. Weights: 8st 12lb. Penalties: a
winner of a Group 1 or Group 2 race over a mile and a quarter or more 3lb.
Penalty value 1st £85,065.00 2nd £32,250.00 3rd £16,140.00 4th £8,040.00 5th
£4,035.00 6th £2,025.00.
1)
RIPOSTE (Khalid Abdullah) Lady Cecil 3-8-12 Tom Queally [5] 9/2
2) JUST
PRETENDING (USA) (Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Sue Magnier) Aidan O'Brien IRE
h3-8-12 Seamie Heffernan [10] 9/2
3) ELIK
(IRE) (Nurlan Bizakov) Sir Michael Stoute 3-8-12 Ryan Moore [3] 9/2
4)
WINSILI (Khalid Abdullah) John Gosden h3-8-12 William Buick [12] 3/1 Fav
5) WAILA
(Sir Evelyn De Rothschild) Sir Michael Stoute 3-8-12 Kieren Fallon [2]
6)
GERTRUDE VERSED (Rachel Hood) John Gosden 3-8-12 Frankie Dettori [1]
7) INDIGO
LADY (C Hancock & Paul Hancock) Peter Chapple-Hyam 3-8-12 Silvestre de
Sousa [8]
8) FERSAH
(USA) (Hamdan Al Maktoum) William Haggas 3-8-12 Paul Hanagan [4]
9)
HOLLOWINA (Peter Onslow) David Brown 3-8-12 Graham Lee [9]
9 ran
Non-runners:
Alive Alive Oh (Going), The Lark (Going), Cocktail Queen (Going)
Time: 2m
29.41s
Distances:
2¼, 1½, 1, 1, 7, 5, 4, 1
Breeder:
Juddmonte Farms Ltd
Breeding:
Dansili - Rainbow Lake (Rainbow Quest (USA)
Tote
Win £5.50 Place £1.80
£1.40 £1.80
Exacta £22.90
Winning
trainer:-Name:Lady Cecil Background: Sister to Rae and Richard
Guest.Married legendary trainer Sir Henry Cecil in 2008 and took over a temporary
license at Warren Place upon his death on June 11, 2013. First runner: Phaenomena,
Newbury, June 13. First winner: Morpheus, Nottingham, June 13. Royal
Ascot Wins (1): Ribblesdale Stakes (2013 Riposte). Wins in 2013: 6
Winning
jockey:-Name:Queally, Thomas Peter Born: October 8, 1984 Background: Son
of Declan, who trains a small string in County Waterford.A former pony racing
champion, who was champion apprentice in Ireland in 2000 with 28 wins - Devon
trainer Tony Newcombe helped bring him to Britain while apprenticed in Ireland
to Pat Flynn. First Winner: Larifaari (Nenagh Handicap, Clonmel, April
13, 2000 - on 4th racecourse ride) Classic Wins (1): QIPCO 2000 Guineas
(2011 Frankel) Big Race Wins include: QIPCO Champion Stakes (2009 & 2010
Twice Over, 2012 Frankel), Dubai Dewhurst Stakes (2010 Frankel), Darley July
Cup (2009 Fleeting Spirit), Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes (2009, 2010 &
2011 Midday), Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2009 Midday), Emirates
Airline Yorkshire Cup (2010 Manifest), Coral-Eclipse (2010 Twice Over),
Yorkshire Oaks (2010 Midday), Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes (2011 Timepiece),
QIPCO Sussex Stakes (2011 Frankel, 2012 Frankel), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
sponsored by QIPCO (2011 Frankel), Juddmonte International (2012 Frankel) Royal
Ascot Wins (6): Windsor Castle Stakes (2004 Chateau Istana), Golden Jubilee
Stakes (2009 Art Connoisseur), Sandringham Handicap (2010 Timepiece), St
James's Palace Stakes (2011 Frankel), Queen Anne Stakes (2012 Frankel),
Ribblesdale Stakes (2013 Riposte). Wins (2003-2012): 1; 66 (Champion
Apprentice), 44, 59; 88; 100; 109; 101; 100; 76 Wins In 2013: 34
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