Crown Of Oaks (5/1) bagged his second Ascot win of the season as he made virtually all to take the closing Balmoral Handicap (sponsored by QIPCO) in the colours of Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom.
An impressive winner at the track last month, the William Haggas-trained three-year-old needed to defy a 14lb higher mark following his subsequent third in a valuable handicap on Irish Champions Weekend.
Crown Of Oaks faced plenty of challengers in the final two furlongs but found stacks for pressure under Tom Marquand to hold off Ebt’s Guard (10/1) and Holloway Boy (16/1) in a three-way finish. Shout (6/1) finished fourth.
Haggas said: “It was bizarre that they all came over to the near side. Crown Of Oaks has done nothing wrong and is a talented horse; he ran very well as a two-year-old and I don’t know how he got beaten at Redcar in a novice race, but he has come good and made up for it. I guess he will be going up again in the handicap. He won’t probably run again this year but we may have higher aspirations next year. We will see how he goes.”
Maureen Haggas said: “Crown Of Oaks needs to relax. He got in a good rhythm and just kept going. I think in an ideal world he wants a bit further, but this is a good pot to aim at. He is a talented horse and I think will be a nice horse for next year. He has taken a while to find his feet this year and we’ve taken a while to learn about him and gelding him has helped.”
Marquand said: “I thought I might manage to pinch a winner earlier in the day to be perfectly honest, but I will take the last! Crown Of Oaks was really good for me there. He found a beautiful rhythm up in front. He was back down to the mile, so I was always confident that he would see out that last furlong well, but he needed every bit of grit and determination to get him through. He is the epitome of what Somerville Lodge and William do best, they get horses to start progressing and find their legs. He is really starting to find himself and hopefully he can be a fun horse for the future.”
Asked whether a mile or 10 furlongs suits him better, he said: “I would say he is one where circumstances are probably the biggest thing. Ascot, autumn ground – I know it’s not really soft, but it’s just that little bit testing – the mile is fine. Equally, when the ground is a bit quicker on a sharp track, he can go back up to 10 furlongs and you know full well that he’s going to see it out.
“Once you’re winning off those sorts of handicap marks [rated 99], you can start looking at Pattern company and the possibilities of travelling. It is no secret that William and the team love sending horses down to Australia, whether he is a candidate for that… possibly. Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy, his owners, don’t mind a trip down there as well. There’s plenty of doors ajar for him at the moment, it’s just a case of seeing which one we want to step through with him.”