Visiting rider Zac Lloyd did not have to wait long to break his Royal Ascot duck as he steered the George Boughey-trained Moonfall (13/2) to victory in the Britannia Stakes.
Moonfall moved through the mile handicap in stylish fashion before picking up nicely to hold off the late challenge from Outback Heat (10/1) by three-quarters of a length. In a finish dominated by those on the stands’ side, the gambled Jamestown (11/2) was third and Lion Of Alba (33/1) fourth.
A multiple G1-winning rider in Australia, Lloyd is on a working holiday in the UK and has partnered winners at Doncaster and York in the build up to Royal Ascot.
Lloyd said: “This is unreal. To ride a winner here is very special. Everyone kept telling me, ‘If you think you’re going well, wait another five seconds.’ That’s all I was thinking about, and by doing that it enabled him to be strong in the last hundred or so, and he was holding his competitors quite comfortably.
“I was asked to come over here by George Boughey, but Billy Loughnane is an absolute star. I was under no illusion I was going to take any of his rides, but I can ride light which helps. He was probably my only bullet for the week.
“I wanted to come here not expecting a winner, but hopeful I could make connections. Then next year if I come back, it will grow and the year after that — that’s what I was aiming to do.
“I was under no illusions – this is probably the hardest week of racing in the world, so to get a win is unexpected but very pleasing. It is my mum’s birthday as well, so there’s a bit more sentimental value to it.
“I know they’ll be awake at 2 or 3am in Australia and probably won’t go back to sleep after that. I’m sure they’ll be very happy. I’m almost a bit shy to it all – it’s so prestigious, and I’ve watched it all in Australia for the past 20 years. To be here competing and having a winner too is quite breathtaking.”
Boughey said: “It has been the plan for a while to come here. Moonfall had a bit of an interrupted autumn last year, and I hope he’s a horse who can progress. He did it quite easily.
“He was just weak last autumn, and I had him ready to go to Doncaster at the end of the year, but I wasn’t happy with him when I saw him at the track and I scratched him. Then the ground went. I ran him in the Superlative and we thought he was a Stakes horse, and I think that’s what you need to win a race like this.
“I am delighted for Zac. He’s a great mate of Billy’s from when he was down there, and I said to Billy, ‘What’s he doing in the winter?’, and he said, ‘Probably nothing!’ I texted him and said, ‘Come on, come up and see how you get on.’ He called me straight away, booked his flight and over he came. He is a star rider – he’s very similar to Billy, very charismatic and with beautiful hands.
“I think Billy’s a little bit annoyed, because the weight’s a bit touch and go, and it’s a long week doing light weights. I do feel a bit for Billy because he’s been a big part of this horse and has ridden a lot of work on him, and it’s the first time Zac’s sat on him.”