Royal Ascot: Illinois leads home Ballydoyle one-two in Queen’s Vase

justified favouritism to give Ryan Moore an 80th Royal Ascot winner in the Queen’s .

The Aidan O’Brien-trained Galileo colt sat in second behind long-time leader Mr Hampstead before Moore pushed him to the front two furlongs out.

Stablemate Highbury was the first to give chase but Moore had enough in the tank to bring his mount home by a length and a quarter at 7-4.

Highbury stayed on to give Ballydoyle a one-two, with Jessica Harrington’s Birdman completing a clean sweep of the places for Ireland.

O’Brien said: “We felt any of the three could win. Ryan made the decision to ride Illinois, and he had the choice of the King Edward VII Stakes or this race. When Diego Velazquez got routed to the King Edward, this horse got rerouted to here. He is obviously a St Leger-type horse and is going to improve from three to four.

“We will probably take our time with and let him have the chance to develop the way he wants to. If City Of Troy wasn’t there, he’d probably have been pitched in much steeper, much earlier. Because City Of Troy was there, we were able to lay off those type of horses and give them a chance to mature.

 That’s what he is, he’s going to be a mile-and-a-half, mile-and-six horse and he’s going to get better from three to four. He is a bit of a baby mentally still, so he might have a little rest now and maybe go to York on the way to the Leger, something like that.

“I think he might have a little bit more class than a Cup horse. His sister won the Arc, so he’s that type. Ryan said he was caught in a position all the way through the race that he would have preferred not to have been in; he was neither up nor back and he wasn’t getting an easy lead.

"He had to do it tough. He went to the front, then he flattened out – he said the race was over, then he had to ask him to come again. He probably learnt a lot today. “Highbury is only a baby and we didn’t know what to expect, but obviously he’s a good horse. Wayne said he was very babyish through the race, and will have come on a lot. He’s probably a nice horse as well, probably a Leger-type horse.”

On Moore’s latest landmark, O’Brien said: “What can I say about Ryan that hasn’t already been said? He is an unbelievable man.”

Moore said: “Illinois has plenty of talent. He is doing a few things wrong still. At Lingfield, he hung right so we thought it would suit him coming here today, but he hung left with me.

 He has a good engine, he'll keep improving and is a real nice staying horse. When asked whether he would be a Gold Cup horse in time, Moore added: “I wouldn't say he has to go that far. I think he'll get a bit more professional and you'll see a better horse. He doesn't need to go that far yet."

Birdman’s trainer Jessica Harrington said: “I am delighted with him as he is still very green. I thought he was going to pick up, but maybe the ground was a little bit quick for him. It was a big step forward. He is entered in the Curragh Cup but we could look at a three-year-old-only race, something like the Gordon Stakes.”

Leovanni stormed clear in the final furlong to land the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Karl Burke-trained filly raced prominently in the group on the far side before James Doyle got to work and sent her to the front.

Winner of her only previous start, the Wathnan Racing-owned youngster had far too much speed for the rest and pulled clear down the centre of the track to land the honours by a ready length and three-quarters at 22-1.

Mighty Eriu stayed on to take second for Gavin Cromwell, with the Adrian Nicholls-trained Maw Lam taking third.

"It's been a lot of work from everyone behind the scenes, it's easy for me just riding them, but a lot of work has been put in by Richard Brown (racing adviser to Wathnan) and his whole team," said Doyle.

"I was pleased with her on debut, she won like a potentially smart filly, but it's so hard to tell. Look at yesterday, I had the choice of three in the Coventry Stakes and the one I picked finished out the back. The other two just got beat. It's very difficult to make choices, thankfully I didn't have to choose between two in this race!"

He added tellingly: "I won this race before on a filly called Rizeena for Clive Britain (2013) and I would say this filly has all the class that she had. The raw speed, the ability to relax, the temperament, being versatile with the ground. There is a lot to look forward to with her."