Olympic Glory relishes soft ground in QEII

Richard Hannon Jr., son of trainer Richard Hannon, was quick to point to the

combination of first-time blinkers and soft ground after 11-2 shot Olympic Glory

ran out the 3 1/4-length winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on

Saturday.

The three-year-old was well beaten by Maxios in the Prix du Moulin de

Longchamp last time out, but he turned the tables on that rival in no uncertain

terms to record his first victory in Group 1 company.

"He's always shown his best on soft ground, even in his juvenile days, so we

thought today's conditions would suit perfectly," Hannon Jr. said. "The blinkers

look to have worked a treat as well. We felt he just dawdled a bit last time out

(in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp) which could explain why he was beaten so

far so we thought some headgear would just sharpen him up a little bit.

"It was a bit of a shout putting blinkers on a good horse like him but he

certainly didn't do his best in Paris -- he lost his concentration, which was a

bit disappointing after his very good run in the (Prix) Jacques le Marois. He

has shown how good he is today. They went very fast and that helped him. He

traveled very well and we are very pleased.

The winner is owned by Qatar's Sheikh Joann Al Thani, who also owns another

top-class, Hannon-trained miler in Toronado.

"We felt there was no need to bring Toronado here on this ground, and it's

great having one miler for the firm, and one for the soft. It's ideal," winning

jockey Richard Hughes said.

Connections' decision to supplement Top Notch Tonto for the Queen Elizabeth

II at a cost of £70,000 was justified when the three-year-old put in a

career-best effort to finish runner-up and earn £227,900 in prize money.

"I've never been so happy to finish second," trainer Brian Ellison said. "The

ground wasn't all that soft when he won his Group 3 and he won a Listed race on

good ground. We knew that he would improve again if the ground was soft or heavy

here. It was a gamble -- I put my jacket on in the hope that it would keep

raining!"

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of third-placed Kingsbarns, commented: "I'm delighted

with that. It all went wrong for him in the spring and this was like our first

run of the season. I'd imagine that will be it for this year and we'll look

forward to next season with him."

Multiple Group 1 winner Dawn Approach, who took the St James's Palace Stakes

at Royal Ascot in June as well as winning the Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket

on his first start this year is now set to take up a new career at Sheikh

Mohammed's Kildangan Stud in Ireland, after finishing fourth in the Queen

Elizabeth II.

Jim Bolger, who bred and trained the son of New Approach, said after this his

final racecourse appearance: "Kevin reported that when he let him go he just

floundered in the ground. He is leaving me during the week and of course I will

miss him."

Simon Crisford, racing manager of Godolphin, added: "The ground was against

him which blunted his turn of foot but he has won four of the best Group One

races in our calendar so his record is fantastic."

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