HIGHLAND REEL CLAIMED a sixth Grade One win to get trainer Aidan O’Brien off the mark in the lucrative Prince of Wales’ Stakes on the second day of Royal Ascot.
With Ryan Moore in the saddle, the 9/4 second favourite had to dig deep over the final furlong but had enough in the tank to claim a one-and-a-quarter length victory from Decorated Knight (10/1), with Ulysses (9/2) a further short head behind in third.
It’s been a difficult start to Royal Ascot for O’Brien, and the Irish trainers in general, over the first day and a half of the five-day flat racing extravaganza.
However, Highland Reel was on the money this afternoon, claiming Ireland’s second win of the week; Willie Mullins having opened the Irish account with Thomas Hobson in yesterday’s penultimate race.
It is a bumper victory for Ballydoyle too, the Prince of Wales being the most lucrative race of the week, Highland Reel securing the £425,325 (€483,360) prize for first over the line.
The son of Galileo has consistently proven himself in elite company, this victory for the five-year-old colt coming fewer than three weeks after his Coronation Cup success at Epsom.
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