Lazzat (9/2) continued a fine week for Wathnan Racing on Royal Ascot Day 5 on Saturday as he became the first French-trained winner of the Gr1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in the post-war era.
In a race that developed into a straight shoot-out between Lazzat and Japanese raider Satono Reve, it was James Doyle’s mount that kept finding to repel the well-backed 2/1 favourite by a half-length. Wathnan’s other runner Flora Of Bermuda finished third, a further three lengths behind.
James Doyle salutes on Lazzat (Pic – Megan Coggin)
Trained by Jerome Reynier, Lazzat warmed up for Royal Ascot with an easy five-and-a-half-length success at Chantilly, after which he was purchased by Wathnan. The high-profile owner has now had five winners this week.
Reynier, celebrating a first Royal Ascot success, said: “Lazzat won at the top level as a three-year-old in the Maurice de Gheest in Deauville but, after having been all the way to Australia and Hong Kong, I was a bit scared that it was going to be tough. We have obviously been trying him over a mile to open his options, but he is a pure sprinter and we will stick to the sprinting distances over straight courses in the future.
“That was a pretty tough challenge [from Satono Reve]. I have been watching all his races and he always comes late. James had a really good feeling with the horse and, when the Japanese horse came to him, Lazzat put his ears back and tried again – he said there was no way he was going to pass him today.
“The July Cup is coming a little quickly, so maybe we will defend his crown in the Maurice de Gheest. We also have the Sprint Cup and we can be back here in October because he can handle any ground. If the ground is heavy, he can do it as well. He’s a very good champion.
“Today everything went right for once, and we are happy to have a first Royal Ascot winner, especially for Wathnan and Nurlan Bizakov as a breeder. I am very happy for the connections involved.”
Doyle said: “I can’t take any credit for this – Jerome and his team told me all about him. His former jockey [Antonio Orani] before did a great job bringing him through the ranks. He rode him in Australia when he ran such a good race in the Golden Eagle.
“We had all bases covered and Jerome was very confident. He said all week ‘don’t worry about the ground, everything is fine’. We mapped the pace out and thought if I end up leading, I end up leading, and he said ‘don’t worry, he won’t stop’.
“I could feel him [Satono Reve] coming all right, but you won’t get a more genuine horse than Lazzat. He really pinned his ears back when he joined me, and he was always going to see him off.
“I thought he was my banker of the week. I feel a bit guilty because we have only picked the horse up a couple of weeks ago, and obviously I landed on him. I have to say a huge thank you to the whole team, a big thanks to everyone.”
Richard Brown of Wathnan said: “It has been an amazing week and that has capped it off. What an amazing horse race. Lazzat locked up with the Japanese horse and they have gone a long way clear in a six-furlong sprint. That was an absolutely phenomenal race to watch, and to be on the lucky side is just amazing; what a horse.
“A huge credit to Nurlan Bizakov, who bred the horse and has a lot of the family. We are very lucky they sold him to us. They Japanese horses are very hard to beat. They have world-class breeding operations. When you saw him [Satono Reve] come in, he was a monster walking round here.
“We are very privileged to be involved with a horse of this quality. It really has been special. I was saying to somebody that, before working for Wathnan, I used to come here and absolutely hate the place because you couldn’t get a winner! But there has been a lot of investment and a huge amount of hard work from all these guys. This is the cherry on top.”
Satono Reve’s jockey Joao Moreira said: “We went into the race with a lot of confidence. The horse was well in himself but we bumped into a very good horse today. Halfway through, I thought I had him done, but he just had another kick and kept attacking the line. I was closing up again and my horse ran really well. We thought we had a really good crack but, unfortunately, we just bumped into a really good horse. I can’t complain, he tried his very best.”
On Flora Of Bermuda, Brown added: “She has run an absolute blinder. She was a little free early, I need to watch it again, but she is so consistent. I would be hopeful that one of these might drop her way. She had some very good horses behind her. These two [Lazzat and Satono Reve] have obviously gone a long way clear, but she was best of the rest.”
Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (Group 1)
1 Lazzat (Wathnan Racing) Jerome Reynier FR 4-9-05 James Doyle 9/2
2 Satono Reve (Hajime Satomi) Noriyuki Hori JPN 6-9-05 Joao Moreira 2/1F
3 Flora Of Bermuda (Wathnan Racing) Andrew Balding 4-9-02 PJ McDonald 12/1
14 ran
- Jerome Reynier –1st Royal Ascot winner
- James Doyle – 26th Royal Ascot winner
Sectional times: Royal Ascot 2025
