Mostahdaf lands Royal Ascot feature in major boost to Japanese superstar Equinox

Mostahdaf put some of Europe’s best to the sword with a spectacular performance in Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes but the horse on everyone’s lips as a result was safely tucked up on the other side of the planet.

The Japanese star Equinox is being readied to run in Sunday’s Group One Takarazuka Kinen at the Hanshin racetrack with his status as the world’s highest rated racehorse getting burnished at Royal Ascot.

In March Mostahdaf’s futile attempt to go with Equinox in Meydan’s Sheema Classic yielded him nothing but a distant view of the Far Eastern paragon, eventually finishing fourth.

Equinox catapulted himself to the top of the world thoroughbred rankings with that performance and its quality got vividly underlined three months later.

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Without a previous Group One success and, to use the vernacular, having got colty in the preliminaries, Mostahdaf still swept from last to first to beat a quality field in style under jockey Jim Crowley.

The 10-1 shot prepared by John and Thady Gosden had four lengths in hand of Aidan O’Brien’s 2-1 favourite Luxembourg with the 2021 Derby hero Adayar in third.

It simultaneously represented both some of the best top-flight form in Europe and a salutary reminder of Japan’s expanding power at the top of the world thoroughbred game.

Royal Ascot is a rare international example of where Japanese raiders haven’t succeeded to date with no winners from just 10 runners over the years.

But given their international strike-rate generally, plenty in Europe will be grateful that Equinox’s connections don’t appear keen on trying to finally secure Japan an elusive success in October’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Instead, any foreign trip later this year could be to the Breeders’ Cup.

Crowley described Equinox as being “on another level” after his success in Dubai and on Wednesday John Gosden was equally fulsome in his praise.

“If you check the form book, he took on a certain Japanese horse in the Sheema Classic. And a mile and a half is beyond him – he’s a mile-and-a-quarter horse. But he was the one who put it up to them and gave it his best go – but what a horse the Japanese horse is,” he said.

Mostahadaf is likely to skip the Eclipse in a fortnight and wait instead for York’s Juddmonte International next.

“I’m surprised how well he’s won against that opposition, but now we know where we are going with him in all those big 10-furlong races. Top of the ground is his gig,” Crowley said.

Luxembourg ran an honourable race having tried to repeat front-running tactics that landed him last month’s Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh. He might be upped in trip next for a return to Ascot and the King George where another clash with Adayar is likely.

“The plan was that we would have a look at the King George after today anyway, so it’s possible, but we will see how he is. He is always going to get a mile and a half well, as we know,” O’Brien reported.

The Irish favourite for the big race got turned over but Jessica Harrington’s 25-1 outsider Villanova Queen got the spoils in the Kensington Palace Handicap.

She supplied champion jockey Colin Keane with a long overdue first Royal Ascot victory, coming with a late sweeping effort to run down Don’t Tell Claire by half a length.

“It has been a while coming, but it’s unfortunate for Shane Foley, who is injured and couldn’t ride. I am very grateful to Mrs Harrington for giving me the ride.

“It’s a weight off your shoulders – this is the biggest stage in racing and I’ve been coming here year in and year out trying to get one. It is very satisfying,” Keane said.

It was the sole Irish success on day two of the meeting with a US challenger, Crimson Advocate, becoming the 14th American-trained Royal Ascot winner when getting the Queen Mary nod over Relief Rally.

The Gosden team doubled up in the Group Two Queens Vase as the evens favourite Gregory got Frankie Dettori off the mark for the week.

A trio of runner-up placings – as well as a nine-day careless riding ban – was an underwhelming start to Dettori’s final Ascot but Gregory retrieved things by dominating this traditional Leger trial from the front.

“That was a dominant display, he broke well, Frankie got a good position and then he was able to control the pace. When the second came to him he’s gone away again,” John Gosden said of the new Leger favourite.

“He’s a class horse, we’re aiming for the St Leger and I told the owners before. All being well, touch wood, he might be a Cup horse next season.

“He’ll need to run somewhere before the Leger, so he’ll go in one of the trials,” he added.

There was a remarkable finish to the 30-runner Royal Hunt Cup as the Ralph Beckett pair, Jimi Hendrix and Sonny Liston, both owned by the same syndicate, finished first and second.

Irish rider Rossa Ryan had a solo on the far side of the track but despite that Jimi Hendrix had a couple of lengths in hand at the line. The unusual exacta paid out over 400-1.

After his opening hat-trick, the Hunt Cup outcome contributed to a frustrating day for Moore who was runner-up for a third time in the concluding Windsor Castle behind Big Evs.