Naval Crown Powers Clear in Platinum Jubilee Stakes

For all the talk of international super sprinters blitzing their way to more glory at Royal Ascot, it was two horses who are making a habit of fighting out finishes at this meeting who ended up in the photograph for first place.

On the far side, it was William Buick and Creative Force , winner of the QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes (G1), while it was his James Doyle-ridden stablemate Naval Crown  who had powered clear on the stands' rail in the June 18 Platinum Jubilee Stakes (G1).

It had been the same last year when the pair fought out the finish to the Jersey Stakes (G3), but this time Naval Crown was the horse to get the prize by a neck from Creative Force.

American invader Campanelle , trained by Wesley Ward for Stonestreet Stables, finished third in a dead heat with Artorius . American-trained runners were shut out at the Royal Ascot meeting, but Campanelle fought admirably, beaten less than a length.

Anyone who had witnessed the top pair gallop at Godolphin's private facility in the build-up to the race, however, would not have been surprised by the narrow margin between the two.

"William rode in a piece of work involving the two of them the other day and he came back and said, 'Charlie, I'm going to have a job splitting them.' There really wasn't a lot between them at home," winning trainer Charlie Appleby said.

"I said to James to try and keep on the coat-tails of the others if you can, because he's going to be running on at the finish. He was placed in the Two Thousand Guineas (G1) and in the Jersey Stakes over further than this," Appleby said. "The one thing Naval Crown had coming into this race was that he was still learning to sprint, and he'd only done it once before in his life when he ran in Dubai last time. It's a stiff six here, so that was going to help.

"I thought Creative Force ran a blinder from his draw. If it had been easy ground I'd have put Creative Force right in the mix as he's been there and done it in the top races, whereas Naval Crown is just coming through the sprinting division."

A case of what might've been for Artorius! @LynchySSR analyses the closing stages of a thrilling Platinum Jubilee at Royal @Ascot pic.twitter.com/YB8T5aPjSk

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 18, 2022

The victory was not the first time Naval Crown had surprised Appleby, who confessed the 4-year-old had accidentally "missed the cut" when horses in his yard were put forward for gelding over the winter.

The win also meant a new plan had to be formulated for the horse, with Australia's Home Affairs and Artorius having been expected to take the prize after the dominant display of Australian Nature Strip  in the June 14 King's Stand Stakes (G1).

Naval Crown was shortened to 8-1 odds (from 33) for next month's Darley July Cup (G1) by Paddy Power, and Appleby said: "We hadn't really thought much beyond this as we thought we'd be following in the Australian horses based on what happened earlier in the week.

"I don't see any reason why we won't go to the July Cup at Newmarket with them."

Naval Crown's success was the second time this season Doyle had unexpectedly landed a group 1 for Godolphin, after capturing the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas Stakes (G1) on second-string Coroebus .

"Charlie said hang on to their coat-tails for as long as you can and I got a lovely draft into the race behind Home Affairs," he said. "He dropped away around the two and a half, so we had to be pretty brave and kick for home.

"We knew the last furlong would be a long way but he's got that stamina in his legs from running over further. It's one of the highlight races of the week and to win it again for Sheikh Mohammed and Charlie is great."

The Godolphin 1-2 finish took reigning champion trainer Charlie Appleby to the top of this year's standings, while Sheikh Mohammed's operation enjoyed a fine Royal Ascot week with wins for Coroebus, Secret State, Dubai Future,  and Noble Truth  as well as Naval Crown.

However, while his son, Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, was at the track on Tuesday, Sheikh Mohammed was not in attendance during the five days, as had been the case for the Two Thousand Guineas and Derby festivals.

While Godolphin chief executive Hugh Anderson flatly refused to comment about Sheikh Mohammed's absence, Appleby said the Godolphin founder's non-appearance did not dampen the celebrations of what was a super week for the group.

"I speak with him every day and I know he's been watching what's going on here very closely this week," Appleby said. "He'll be very happy as it's been a good week for Team Godolphin. All credit has to go to the team and to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed. The support he's given to me and my team since Day One has been incredible and the only way I can repay him is to have winners on days like these."

Dubawi Ends Royal Meeting as Leading Sire

It was not just royal blue silks, trainer Appleby, and a bit of past history that Naval Crown and Creative Force shared as they flashed across the line together in Saturday's Platinum Jubilee. Godolphin's pair are both by Sheikh Mohammed's operation's supreme stallion Dubawi .

The result was an impressive fifth winner of the week whichever way the judge chose for 20-year-old Dubawi, who would finish up as Royal Ascot's top sire in 2022 ahead of Galileo and Kingman  on three winners apiece.

Just as notably, Naval Crown was becoming his 50th individual group or grade 1 winner.

Dubawi would be generalized as a sire of milers and middle-distance performers such as Ghaiyyath , Too Darn Hot , and Postponed , but he can manage sharper ones too, with Godolphin's Kildangan Stud resident Space Blues  landing a Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1).

It has been a magnificent season already for the veteran, who did not race at Royal Ascot himself but has produced Coroebus in his likeness, the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1) hero adding the June 14 St. James's Palace Stakes (G1) to a growing haul.

Among 14 group winners recorded already this year by Dubawi were Eldar Eldarov , who nosed a tight finish to the June 15 Queen's Vase Stakes (G1), while his haul this week was completed by Dubai Future  in the listed Wolferton Stakes and Secret State in the King George V Stakes.

"He's a phenomenon," said Sam Bullard, Darley's director of stallions. "He produces winners from across the spectrum—big, small, short or longer distance—and he's had a remarkable week. He's a remarkable breed-shaper."

Naval Crown's biggest victories prior to this had been achieved in Dubai, chiefly when taking the Al Fahidi Fort Presented By Mina By Azizi (G2) this January. Unlike Creative Force, who was a €400,000 (US$435,971) yearling purchase from Owenstown Stud at Goffs Orby, he is also a Godolphin homebred.

The association with Sheikh Mohammed's breeding goes back to his third dam, Redcar maiden winner True Glory—a sibling of 1995 E.P. Taylor Stakes (G2T) winner Truly a Dream  and dual group 2 winner-turned-stallion Wareed—out of Richard Strauss's useful Caerleon mare Truly Special.

Naval Crown is the first foal, and the only one to have raced, out of Come Alive , a Dansili mare who won a Maisons-Laffitte listed race in Godolphin blue for Andre Fabre and was not beaten far in the 2016 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (G1).

His 2-year-old sister Spring Promise, by Lope De Vega , is registered in Appleby's care.