Dubai-owned horses miss out on Day One glory at Royal Ascot

The opening day of Royal Ascot was meant to be a showcase for the powerhouse horses with Dubai connections, a chance to add more glitter to their rich history at the meeting. But luck remained elusive for the Emirati runners in a dramatic start to the Royal meeting.

The closest they came to winning was in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, where Rosallion, carrying the colours of Epsom Derby-winning owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, who tasted Derby glory back in 1998 with High Rise, fell agonisingly short in a photo-finish, beaten by the proverbial nose.

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Sent off the 5-2 favourite and produced with a well-timed challenge by Sean Levey, Rosallion seemed poised for a breakthrough. But Harry Eustace’s outsider Docklands, under a powerful ride from Mark Zahra, held him off in a nail-biting finish adding an unexpected twist to the opening Group 1 contest.

It was Docklands’ third Ascot triumph and first at the highest level and marked Eustace’s formal Group 1 breakthrough as a Royal Ascot-winning trainer.

It was a tough day all around for Godolphin, the flagship stable of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as two of its big hopes failed to find the luck of the draw.

Notable Speech, a former 2000 Guineas (G1) winner, finished fourth in the Queen Anne, while Ruling Court, this year’s Guineas hero and a strong contender in the St James’s Palace Stakes (G1), crossed the line in third behind the imperious winner, Field of Dreams. There were moments when both horses seemed poised to challenge, but in the end, undone by no clear runs, neither could conquer their respective fields.

Godolphin handler Charlie Appleby has always been frank in his assessments, and he struck a note of cautious optimism when reflecting on Notable Speech’s disappointing run in the Queen Anne Stakes..

“We probably won't have an explanation at this moment, to be honest,” Appleby told British television. “William rode his race as he has done many a time … when he pulled him out and asked him to pick up, he didn’t, and more importantly he didn’t run through the line.”

About Ruling Court Appleby remained pragmatic saying:  “We took Ruling Court out of the Derby due to the ground, and we can have no excuses with conditions at Ascot.”

Despite the setbacks, Appleby is determined to regroup. Notable Speech is already being readied for Sussex Stakes (G1) at Goodwood next.

Meanwhile, Military Order and Passion and Glory were also unable to make their mark in the Listed Wolferton Stakes, which was won by Qatari-owned Haatem

The Royal meeting, a blend of prestige, tradition, and high-calibre competition, is often a place where a small twist of fate can separate victory from agony. And so it was for UAE connections, it was a story of near misses.

It might have been a tough start for a team more accustomed to ruling the Royal Ascot stage but as the meeting unfolds over the next four days, the Dubai-owned runners will be looking to put their disappointments behind them and find their stride on a course that has frequently rewarded their ambitions in years past with close to 60 successes.