Giavellotto strikes in dramatic Hardwicke as Soumillon loses irons

Globetrotting star Giavellotto added a Royal Ascot victory to his glittering CV when edging out old rival Kalpana in a thrilling finish to the Hardwicke Stakes.

Marco Botti’s Hong Kong Vase hero, who was last seen finishing third to Calandagan in Dubai, accounted for Andrew Balding’s Ascot specialist in Kempton’s September Stakes last year and the duo went toe-to-toe on a much grander stage this time.

Kalpana always had a handy position and travelled menacingly into the straight for Colin Keane and a dramatic climax would ensue, with French raider Goliath also entering the picture before jockey Christophe Soumillon appeared to lose his irons inside the final furlong when laying down a challenge.

Only a short head separated 9-1 chance Giavellotto and the 9-4 favourite Kalpana as they crossed the line, with the narrow verdict giving jockey Oisin Murphy a first winner of the week.

Botti said: “Every owner wants to have a runner here and it’s worked out so well, I’m delighted.

“Oisin is a brilliant jockey, what can you say? He had a plan in mind, he said ‘I’m going to follow Kalpana, she will take me to the furlong marker’. He’s ridden the race he had in mind, he’s a fantastic jockey.

“He’s so brave, beforehand he gets warm and he winds himself up a little bit, but in the race he always gives his best. He’s never let us down, he’s just a brilliant horse.

“The key to him is the ground, he likes top of the ground. We campaigned him as a three-year-old, he ran well in the St Leger and then we thought they weren’t going quick enough.

“As he got older, he got stronger with more speed so his optimum trip is a mile and a half. He does need a strong pace and today just played into his hands.

“I think we’ll freshen him up, the priority would be to go back to Hong Kong.”

It has been a long week for Murphy in his bid to add to his 20 Royal Ascot winners, but the champion jockey was thrilled to open his account for the meeting.

Murphy said: “I couldn’t believe he was so big in the betting, I thought he would be a shorter price.

“He’s brilliant fresh, he’s a Group One winner in Hong Kong already and it’s great that he’s won the Hardwicke.

“It’s my first winner of the week and when I spoke to His Majesty The King before the first race, he said ‘you haven’t been on the scoresheet this week but keep going’ so I’m glad it finally happened.”

Meanwhile offering no excuses in defeat was Andrew Balding having watched his star mare go down valiantly in a titanic battle.

Balding said:: “I’m very proud of her. The winner is a very good horse and we’re probably slightly better on soft ground while he’s very good on this ground, but I’m very proud of the way she ran, and delighted for Marco and his team, because it was a hell of a horse race.”

Goliath filled third place for France and Francis-Henri Graffard and explaining what happened in the closing stages when losing his irons, Soumillon said: “I was trying to come beside Oisin easily because my horse likes to feel he is comfortable and when I tried to put my feet backwards to squeeze him with my heels, my stirrup just got blocked with my girth.

“My feet were backwards and I lost my iron on the right side. It’s nobody’s fault, I couldn’t imagine it was going to happen at that point of the race, I wasn’t moving on him.

“I thought it would be hard to win the race because I couldn’t get a head in front of Oisin but I was fighting with them. It was going to be a close call but when you lose it like this, especially as I was not expecting it, I nearly lost my balance and I was lucky to stay on him.”