3 minute read
Second Royal Ascot victory for son of Galileo
The impeccably bred Circus Maximus (4 c Galileo - Duntle by Danehill Dancer) shone on the opening day of the Royal Ascot meeting in 2019 and he repeated those heroics on the first day in 2020 as he took out the Queen Anne Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) when the prestigious meeting got underway on Tuesday.
A winner of the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) in 2019, the son of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) was ridden to the front by Ryan Moore. As the face began to unfold up front Circus Maximus was joined by last-start Dahlia Stakes (Gr 2, 1m2f) winner Terebellum (Sea The Stars), who briefly headed the colt.
However, he was able to battle back bravely to regain the lead in the shadow of the winning post, beating the daughter of Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) by a head. Marie’s Diamond (Footstepsinthesand) finished another three lengths further back in third.
This was the colt’s fifth career victory - third Group 1 level, having taken out the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (Gr 1, 1600m) in October, adding to Group 1 at Royal Ascot last year and he has now earned £1,083,049 in career prize-money.
Circus Maximus is one of 85 Group 1 winners for Galileo, who moved one past Danehill’s (Danzig) top-flight record of 84 when his daughter Peaceful took out the Irish 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) at the Curragh on Sunday.
O'Brien, recording his 71st Royal Ascot success, said: "We were delighted with that performance. Circus Maximus is very tough, he travels with a lot of speed, then quickens and then toughs it out. It was unbelievable, really. Ryan gave him an unbelievable ride and we are delighted.
"It is very exciting to have a winner. Royal Ascot is usually a very busy week for us as we go back and forth, so it is brilliant to be able to see all the preliminaries. It is great for us and we get to see a lot of stuff that we otherwise wouldn't. We have got a great team of people to do everything when we are not there, and we couldn't be happier really.
"Pat Keating and the lads bring them to the races and the lads fly them over so it's a great team of people and they are all working together. We are so lucky to have so many special people really.
"Circus Maximus is a very good horse. He is a Galileo from a good family and has a great pedigree. He is tough, has pace and is brave - he is a trademark Galileo.
"I think he has probably been a bit underestimated. He is a very solid horse and all his best form has been over a mile and that makes him all the more valuable and interesting. He travels very strongly and then loves getting eyeballed. He is a very good horse.”
O’Brien said the colt would now likely head to Sussex Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) at Glorious Goodwood, which would set up a mouth-watering clash with unbeaten Irish 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) winner Siskin (First Defence).
"I think a mile is his trip. The problem is he is lazy and that is why he wears blinkers. It is only when the tempo is really high that he actually races so I think a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half trips don't allow him to focus. So, I would imagine he would stay at a mile.
"Like a fighter, if you don't get his blood up, he doesn't really bother. The pace of the mile races allows him to get his blood up.
"I would say the Sussex Stakes is the race for him. He is very comfortable racing around a bend."
It was a 59th Royal Ascot success for jockey Ryan Moore who said: "He is a very straightforward horse. He won the St James's Palace here last year and won the Moulin at Longchamp. He has been a really good horse and this is his third Group 1.
"They had their chance to come and beat him, but he battled away and fought all the way. I am delighted with what he has done today.
"He won the Dee Stakes and ran a good race in the Derby, he was sixth and wasn't beaten far. And as I said that is his third Group 1 and I am delighted with him.
"I would say it is good ground, just maybe a bit slower, just on the slow side.
"We're very happy that we are here racing, the [lack of crowd] does detract from it all, but that is the way of the world at the moment."
Galileo has shown an affinity to produce top-class racehorses when bred to daughters of Danehill Dancer (Danehill), with the cross producing 22 stakes winners, and Circus Maximus is one of five elite level winners bred on this nick with the others being; Minding, Alice Springs, Sovereign and The Gurkha.
Bred by the Niarchos Family’s Flaxman Stables, who also race the colt with Coolmore, Circus Maximus, becomes the second son of the great Galileo to land the Group 1, joining the stallion’s unbeaten son Frankel who landed the race in 2012.
The colt is the first foal out of the Flaxman Stables-owned mare Duntle (Danehill Dancer), who won twice at Royal Ascot for David Wachman, with her first victory coming in the Sandringham Handicap (Listed, 1m) in 2012 and she took out the Duke of Cambridge Stakes (Gr 2, 1m) the following year.
Duntle herself is out of the regally-bred Lady Angola (Lord At War), who is in turn a sister to Listed winner Lovat’s Lady - the dam of fellow Listed winner Chetten County (Giant’s Causeway).
Meanwhile, Lady Angola is a three-quarter sister to Grade 1 winners Honor In War and La Gueriere - the latter producing the Grade 2 winner Last Approval (With Approval) and Grade 1 winner Icon Project (Empire Maker), herself the dam of Fashion Business (Frankel).
Lady Angola’s other three-quarter siblings include Listed winner Lord Of Warriors and Lady Lochinvar - the dam of Grade 2 winner Master Command (A.P. Indy), Grade 3 winner Aurora Lights (Pulpit) and Listed scorer Street Lad (Street Cry).
Furthermore, the colt’s fourth dam is Lady Winborne (Secretariat), the dam of Grade 1 winner Al Mamoon (Believe It), Group 3 winner Lost Soldier (Danzig) and Born Wild (Wild Again), while the page also features Grade 2 winner Munnings (Speightstown).
What a thriller! Circus Maximus and Ryan Moore win the Queen Anne for Aidan O’Brien… #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/au5Yi1bz85
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 16, 2020
