Printer Friendly Page 

Free Eagle withstands The Grey Gatsby's late flurry in Prince of Wales's

Pat Smullen earned his first 2015 Royal Ascot score when Free Eagle captured the Prince of Wales's (Photo courtesy of Ascot Racecourse via Twitter) Favored at 5-2, Free Eagle (High Chaparral) held gamely to repel the late bid of The Grey Gatsby (Mastercraftsman) in Wednesday's Prince of Wales's (Eng-G1), the feature race on day two of Royal Ascot. Pat Smullen registered his first success of the 2015 Royal Meeting aboard the Dermot Weld-trained four-year-old colt, who was making just his fifth career start and first since a third in the Champion (Eng-G1) last October. Free Eagle has had an interrupted training program, having suffered a stress fracture to the tibia in 2014, and his preparation for the Prince of Wales's Stakes was also less than ideal as the horse picked up a cold a few weeks ago. "He got a brilliant ride from Pat," Weld said after Free Eagle prevailed by a short-head. "He's a very good horse and when you've a brilliant horse like him, it makes the training easy." Free Eagle raced only twice last season, posting a seven-length score in the Enterprise (Ire-G3) at Leopardstown in mid-September before the aforementioned Champion at Ascot. The about 1 1/4-mile Prince of Wales's marked his first Grade 1 tally. "He hasn't been easy, he has had a lot of problems," the conditioner said. "He had a heavy head cold a couple of weeks ago, and I thought today was going to be very much in doubt, but we got him right on the day that matters. Fitness was my biggest concern -- he hasn't run for nine months -- and I had him as good as I could have him with the limited preparation he had.

"He gallops low to the ground, he's a lovely stayer, he sticks his head out and he battles. But you can't force fitness, and ideally the race was two weeks too soon. I did have huge confidence in the horse and his ability, though. It was a calculated risk and a personal triumph for me."

Weld added the Prix de l'Arc de Triopmphe (Fr-G1) is Free Eagle's long-term goal.

Smullen had to take up the lead earlier than he had anticipated on the bay colt, but despite a 242 day absence, the horse galloped all the way to the line.

"He has obviously been off for such a while and the race went very steady and that is why I wanted to sit and wait on him," Smullen said. "I probably sat closer than I had anticipated beforehand and committed earlier than I thought, but that is how the race unfolded.

"I am relieved because I have been saying for the last two years how good this horse is and thankfully he is starting to show it. He thrived on that ground. He is a wonderful horse who has a great action and that has played to his strengths today. He is just a very good horse and he was able to show on that very quick summer ground what a fantastic horse he is."

The Irish jockey also suggested the step up to 1 1/2 miles would not hold any issues for the colt.

"While he has plenty of pace, I do think he will improve going further," Smullen noted. "He galloped all the way to the line and on that evidence he would get a mile and a half. The Irish Champion Stakes (Ire-G1) would obviously be a possible but the race I would love to win is the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe."

Smullen also paid tribute to Dermot Weld:

"I can't tell you how good a training performance that was. It has not been anything but difficult as there is nothing easy about getting Free Eagle here today.  Truth be known I didn't think he was going to show his true ability here today because it has been a troubled interruption. Dermot backed off and was patient with him, giving the horse the time he needed, he got him fresh.

"Jockeys can make mistakes by going too soon or trainers can by doing one more piece of work but Dermot didn't and he put it on trust to let the horse show good he was and it paid off today. I didn't think I have got as much pleasure from riding a winner as I did from him to be honest."

The Grey Gatsby's defeat in the Prince Of Wales's will surely be remembered as one of the hard-luck stories of Royal Ascot 2015.

When the eventual winner, Free Eagle, was sent on by jockey Pat Smullen, Frankie Dettori on third-placed Western Hymn (High Chaparral) made the same move on his outside, with the result that The Grey Gatsby became held in. It was not until Western Hymn began to fade that Jamie Spencer was able to drive The Grey Gatsby for the line, and he made up more than a length inside the final furlong before going down by a short-head.

Kevin Ryan, who trains the runner-up, was not dejected, and said: "I'm not disappointed, and you probably think I should be, but I've got the horse back to his best and I'm looking forward to the big races ahead. He's in the Eclipse (Eng-G1), the King George (Eng-G1) and the Juddmonte (Eng-G1), but it's unfortunate we don't have a pacemaker for him, which is what he needs. If he was owned by one of the big firms, he would have a pacemaker to ensure an end-to-end gallop, but this was always our first aim and no one can say we didn't get it right.

"Over the first two furlongs I thought to myself 'they are going a good gallop here,' but then they half pulled up, and my horse became half locked-up. But it was a great horse race and he is back to his best. Jamie would have liked to get out a lot earlier, but you can't barge your way out and that's the rub of the green in racing. After the line he was in front.

"In racing there are often tiny margins, and it was a great training performance by Dermot Weld with the winner."

Reigning American Horse of the Year California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) was scratched from the Prince of Wales's on Tuesday morning due to a foot bruise.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com

More Racing Headlines:

Miss Temple City earns hard-fought victory in Matriarch

Annals of Time captures first stakes win in Hollywood Derby

Penn Derby upgraded to Grade 1 for 2017

Miss Temple City headlines Del Mar's closing-day Matriarch

Trio of graded stakes on tap Saturday

Send this article to a friend