Sober continued Willie Mullins’ excellent record in the Queen Alexandra Stakes, providing Britain and Ireland’s champion Jump trainer with a fifth success in the Royal Ascot finale.
Placed at Group 1 level in France for Andre Fabre, the 4/5 favourite marked himself down as a potential Cup horse as he quickened away to beat the 102-rated Samui (10/3) by five lengths. Wild Waves (11/1) was just over two lengths further back in third.
A seventh winner of the meeting for Ryan Moore, Sober is part-owned by Australian syndicate OTI Racing, who landed the opening Queen Anne Stakes with Docklands.
Terry Henderson, Director of OTI Racing, said: “This is such a thrill for our partners back in Australia that invest in these horses. We all know Royal Ascot is the greatest race meeting in the world and to have a winner at each end of the meeting is just incredible.
“I think Sober can go to Australia, while Docklands can stay in England for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. I tried to buy Sober two years ago, but he wasn’t for sale then. Then when he came up for sale, we had him earmarked. I saw Willie in the [sales] ring and thought ‘help!’, but we got together and the rest is history.”
Mullins said: “We bought this guy and he is a lot better than we thought he would be. I thought he had improved, and it looks like he has improved an awful lot. Terry would want to bring him down for the Melbourne Cup, so hopefully we get him qualified for. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, but we will get them done.”
Moore said: “It was straightforward. Sober was a level above them. He is a Group winner and beat them as he was entitled to.”
Colin Keane said of Samui, who also finished third in Tuesday’s Copper Horse Stakes, said: “A massive run. He ran a big race earlier in the week. He has stepped up nearly a mile in trip but that was not a problem. He just bumped into one of Willie’s on the day.”