Horse Racing

Queen Anne Stakes – Paco Boy Returns To Ascot

Paco Boy, winner of the 2009 Queen Anne Stakes, is taking a shot at a second win in the Queen Anne Stakes, the first event of the Royal Ascot Festival this afternoon.

2009 saw the then four-year-old triumph over a furious field of nine runners; including Saeed Bin Suroor’s Alexandros and Main Aim from the stables of Sir Michael Stoute. Winning by a cool 1 ½ lengths, Paco Boy made the day for trainer Richard Hannon and regular jockey Richard Hughes.
2010 however, will see the champion facing off a couple of high-profile competitors intent on keeping the second win out of his reach.

Goldikova and Rip Van Winkle are considered the most threatening opponents in today’s race, heading an outstandingly talented and determined field of ten.

Five-year-old Goldikova, Freddie Head’s miracle mare, has been burning up race tracks around the country since she burst into the scene in May 2008; recording eight wins, one runner-up and two third places out of twelve career starts. The prodigious runner and her regular jockey, Olivier Peslier, have proven a winning team repeatedly and are now ready to take on the Royal Ascot. Unbeaten since November 2009, Goldikova achieved her most recent win on 23rd May, when she raced to victory in the D’Ispahan at Longchamp. Goldikova is widely considered the favourite for the Queen Anne Stakes, an astonishing achievement for a female runner in an event for both sexes; however, her incredible race record and outrageous tenacity on the track make no secret of this magic mare’s will to win.

Rip Van Winkle hails from the training stables of legend Aidan O’Brien. A year younger than Goldikova and Paco Boy, this four-year-old may be less experienced on the professional track but he lacks nothing in stamina and determination. Winning four of his nine career starts, all but one race run under the guidance of Johnny Murtagh, as well as collecting one second place, has proven beyond a doubt that Rip Van Winkle is worthy of racing with the big guns. O’Brien has chosen the Queen Anne Stakes at the Royal Ascot Festival as the first race to reintroduce his charge to the track after a lengthy break. Since 7th November, when Rip Van Winkle suffered a terrible defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita due to a light injury, he has been recuperating and training. Now, just in time for one of the most exciting flat races of the season, the four-year-old is said to be in better shape than ever.

Nonetheless, Paco Boy is still a major force in the Queen Anne Stakes line-up. O’Brien’s star pupil id by far the most successful runner in the leading trio (Goldikova, Rip Van Winkle, Paco Boy), with eleven victories out of 18 career starts, most recently winning the Bet 365 Mile and the Lockinge Stakes. Like his opponents, Paco Boy forms an experienced team with his regular jockey Richard Hughes, who will be his companion in today’s race and rode him to victory in the 2009 Queen Anne Stakes.

If Paco Boy runs a winning race this afternoon, he will join the ranks of Queen Anne Stakes double winners. In the race’s 170 year history only four horses managed to achieve double wins; Flambeau in 1840 and 1841, Toastmaster in 1885 and 1886, Worcester in 1895 and 1896, and Dean Swift in 1906 and 1907 – this would make Paco Boy the first multiple Queen Anne Stakes winner in over 100 years. If this honour is not motivation enough, we don’t know what is.

Check out the most current odds on the Queen Anne Stakes here if you would like to back Paco Boy, Goldikova or Rip Van Winkle – or another of the outstanding runners lining up for the first race of the Royal Ascot Festival.