News

Chautauqua Heads Aussie Entries For Royal Ascot

22nd Apr 2016

Released this week was the 2016 Royal Ascot Group 1 race entries. The world stage of Royal Ascot is being set with a record number of International entries from eight countries, including Australia, which is represented with six entries.

Chautauqua, the current world's highest-rated sprinter and recent emphatic winner of the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick during The Championships in Sydney, is nominated in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes on the 18th June over six furlongs (1207 metres) up the straight track of Ascot racecourse. The five year old son of Encosta De Lago is an Australian Easter Yearling Sale ring graduate trained by Team Hawkes and will be trying to emulate previous Inglis sales graduates Black Caviar, Starspangledbanner and Choisir by passing the line first in the Group 1 contest.

The Quarterback, a $120,000 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale purchase by Robbie Griffiths, is entered in the Kings Stand Stakes on the opening day of The Royal Meeting over 5 furlongs (1000 metres). A son of Street Boss, The Quarterback will be following the same path to Ascot success as previous Inglis graduates Black Caviar and Takeover Target, having won Newmarket Handicap at Flemington in March. The five-year-old delivered trainer Robbie Griffiths his first Group 1 victory and will be aiming for a dream year for the trainer.

Australian bred and Inglis sold racehorses have had considerable success in recent years on the international stage headlined by Black Caviar, the undefeated superstar filly which won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes in 2012. Group 1 wins in Dubai (Ortensia, Amber Sky, Sterling City), South Africa (Majmu, Entisaar, Alboran Sea), Hong Kong (Able Friend, Contentment) and England (Ortensia, Starspangledbanner) underline the global success of Aussie horses.

Black Caviar’s success at Royal Ascot was one of long line of triumphs for Australian horses at the famous meeting. Choisir was a pioneer completing the Group 1 sprint double of the Kings Stand Stakes and Golden Jubilee Stakes, while Takeover Target ran at Royal Ascot six times during his career for a win, second and fourth placing in the King Stand Stakes plus a second, third and fourth placing in the Golden Jubilee. Starspangledbanner headed to the northern hemisphere as a dual-Group 1 winning three-year-old and left as the Cartier Champion Sprinter in Europe thanks to wins in the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot and July Cup at Newmarket.

The six Australian trained horses nominated for Royal Ascot 2016 are Chautauqua, The Quarterback, Bow Creek, Japonisme, Holler and Kermadec. They’ll be joined by Australian bred gallopers Not Listenin’tome and Vancouver, which are now being trained out of Hong Kong and Ireland respectively.