Ribchester gets Godolphin off to a flyer

Ribchester smashed the course record for Ascot's famous 'straight mile' and gave Godolphin the perfect start to the 2017 Royal Meeting when triumphing in the opening G1 Queen Anne Stakes.

It was 40 years to the day that a young Emirati with a growing passion for racing welcomed home his first winner on a British racecourse, Hatta, ridden by Ron Hutchinson, at Brighton on 20 June 1977.

Sheikh Mohammed, in the Ascot winner's enclosure, happily recalled his first winner. But he quickly added that since that day, he had been moving forward and enjoying it.

"In life, there is no winning post. You have to keep going, otherwise the rest will catch up with you," he said.

The Richard Fahey-trained Ribchester was skillfully handled by William Buick, angling the colt over from the far side of the course to be positioned behind the leaders at half-way.

The Iffraaj colt then took it up, and although drifting a little to his left, he raced away to win by a length and a quarter from Mutakayyef, with a neck back to Deauville in third.

Toscanini, the Godolphin pacemaker, set a scorching gallop for the first half of the race, which enabled the winner to set a new mark for one mile, 1 min 36.60 secs - which was 0.49 secs faster than the previous best, set by Integral in 2014.

Ribchester has now won 5 of his 12 starts, and there is scope to step up in trip. But Fahey is in no hurry. "He is an exceptional horse. I was always hoping he would stay further but at the moment, I don't need to do further," the trainer said.