Field Of Gold confirmed himself as the champion miler of his generation with a stunning three-and-a-half length success in the Gr1 St James’s Palace Stakes on Royal Ascot Day 1 on Tuesday.
The son of Kingman, a winner of this race in 2014, lined up after a dominant victory in the Gr1 Irish 2,000 Guineas and was sent off the 8/11 favourite to turn the tables on his Newmarket conqueror Ruling Court.
Colin Keane steers Field Of Gold to a five star performance (Pic – Megan Coggin)
Always travelling smoothly, John & Thady Gosden’s star cruised into contention and put the race to bed with a scintillating turn of foot, in what was an armchair ride for Juddmonte’s new retained rider Colin Keane.
Henri Matisse (4/1) emerged from the pack to finished second, without ever looking likely to trouble the winner, with Ruling Court (4/1) staying on to take third.
John Gosden said: “That was a great performance. Oisin [Murphy] did a nice job doing an even pace [on Windlord]. Colin had a lot of horse and, for a second, I thought, ‘Whoops, this is Ascot – it climbs all the way to the finish line, and we’ve gone a bit soon’. I didn’t watch him, I looked back – you always have to look back for the dangers, and fortunately, none was coming.
“Field Of Gold had always impressed as a two-year-old, but he was a big boy and slightly outgrew himself. We ran him in France, which was a mistake in the end. It wasn’t the ground. He was too free in front and didn’t finish up. We should have run him in the Dewhurst, I regret that.
“Then this year he has been exemplary in everything he has done. Look, he is a pleasure to train because he’s a pretty laid-back character, which is very useful. It was never the plan to go to Ireland, it became the plan, so he’s had a trial, two Guineas and this. It’s a lot of racing and we’re not even beginning to be halfway through the season.
“Maybe we will freshen and go to the Sussex, something like that. I think if he hadn’t run in Ireland, I would have probably been keen to go to the Eclipse. But when they win like that, they make it look easy, but they are taking a lot out of themselves, so I wouldn’t want to be seen as someone trying to run him back in the Eclipse quick off this.”
Keane said: “Good horses make it look easy. It was a very good renewal of the race. I don’t know when the last time three Guineas winners clashed, but Field Of Gold was very good at the Curragh and very good again today.
“I was happy enough [with track position]. I was beside the three main rivals. I thought Ryan was always going to be behind us somewhere. If anything, the leaders probably didn’t bring us far enough and we got there plenty soon, but he’s tough and genuine.
“I am fortunate enough to be riding him and, at this moment, he is the best horse I have sat on. I am in a very privileged position. I have been lucky enough to join this team. It is a very new relationship and to get a horse like him so early on is amazing. I’ve had nothing compared to this in recent years, so it’s a very special day.”
His Highness Prince Saud bin Khalid of Juddmonte said: “We are very fortunate to have a horse of this calibre, not only winning but the style by which he won was very impressive, wasn’t it? Being a son of Kingman makes it even more of a value to all of us. It is Prince Khalid’s legacy.
“I am very thankful for the trainer, the jockey and all the Juddmonte staff; we are all very indebted to them. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I hope it has contributed to horseracing at large. He is a wonderful horse.”
Aidan O’Brien said of runner-up Henri Matisse: “We are very happy. You are never happy when you get beat, but he still ran a very good race. I think we will stay at a mile. We had it in our heads that he would go to the Sussex Stakes after, so we’ll see, but that’s what was in our heads.”
Third-placed Ruling Court’s trainer Charlie Appleby said: “William said he was never really travelling comfortably, and obviously at this level you need to be able to get up and travel on the bridle, give your horse a breather, to try to go through those gears at the business end.
“It’s going back to where we felt we were in the spring – we felt we were a mile and a quarter horse. He won the Guineas, and we were then gung-ho to go to the Derby – I still think it was the right decision not to run on the ground.
“It is never ideal to have to regroup and run somewhere else, but I don’t think that was our undoing today. The horse is fine and one thing we’ll be doing from now on is stepping up in trip. I think it might be a bit soon to say we’ll be jumping on to the Eclipse, but we’ll be working back from the Juddmonte.”
- St James’s Palace Stakes (Group 1)
1 Field Of Gold (Juddmonte) John & Thady Gosden 3-9-02 Colin Keane 8/11F
2 Henri Matisse (S Magnier, M Tabor, D Smith, Merriebelle Irish Farm Ltd) Aidan O’Brien IRE 3-9-02 Ryan Moore 4/1
3 Ruling Court (Godolphin) Charlie Appleby 3-9-02 William Buick 4/1
7 ran
- *John & Thady Gosden – 67th Royal Ascot winner
- Colin Keane –3rd Royal Ascot winner
*includes wins in John Gosden’s own right
Sectional times: Royal Ascot 2025
