De Bromhead revels in first Royal Ascot winner

We're used to seeing great success for Henry De Bromhead at the major English jumps festivals but there was a first for the Waterford trainer on Tuesday evening when he landed his first Royal Ascot winner when Ascending (20/1) denied fellow Irish challengers Nurburgring and Comfort Zone in a busy finish to the Ascot Stakes.

Whilst many, including the well-fancied Royal runner Reaching High, endured a troubled passage up the inside rail, Billy Lee kept Ascending clear of trouble as the duo charted a wider passage.

Ascending hit the front entering the final furlong and had enough in the tank to repel the Joseph O’Brien-trained trio of Nurburgring (16/1), Comfort Zone (33/1) and Leinster (25/1).

De Bromhead said: “I am delighted. I wanted to go for the Copper Horse Stakes; I thought we had a great chance, but we didn’t get in and someone put us in this race and we win! Happy days.

“Ascending is a star. He was bought to go hurdling and ran very well over hurdles, but I think he never really loved it, so I said we’d try going back on the Flat. David Roach, who works for me, said, ‘there’s a good one in this lad on the Flat’, so we started going that route.

“Chris’s son Andrew [Jones] rode him in some nice amateur races last year. That was great fun and he was unlucky not to win one day. Then we’ve just kept going along this route and it has been incredible. I think we'll stay on the Flat – he seems to love it.

“Billy said he got knocked down after a furlong, so he opted to go out and get a bit of light, and the horse travelled beautifully. He gave him a super ride; he knew he had a kick so he kicked a bit earlier than he’d planned, but he just said he’d try it and it worked well. Any of these big races when you are fortunate enough to train good horses is amazing, and I’ve been lucky.” 

Lee said: “If you weren’t travelling, you get thrown into the middle of the track; it’s just the fact that Ascending was going so easily and took me into the race that I was able to keep things smooth.

“Ascending was fifth in the Triumph Hurdle, but he lost his form a bit over jumps and they came back to the Flat, and I was lucky to get on him when he won at Dundalk. He won really well and I thought it was a good performance in Cork over his minimum trip. I was confident off that run that, if he did get the trip, he would be very competitive. It was a good performance from the horse and Henry had him spot-on.

“Henry has been a great supporter of mine over the past two or three years and it’s great to be riding winners, especially for him and here at Ascot. It has been a long time between drinks [Settle For Bay in 2018 Royal Hunt Cup] - you like to be coming here with chances, but I love this week and I love coming, and it’s great to get one on the board.” 

Winning owner Chris Jones, who has tasted success at the Cheltenham Festival, said: “I have never been to Royal Ascot. I have been here three times jumping in the winter with Henry and Arthur Moore. I said to Arthur on the way in, 'come on, you're our lucky charm' and Arthur came in with us and this is what happened. Unbelievable.

“We have had a trying time with the National Hunt game and the family all deserve a big winner. That's what this is, a proper winner. Myself and Henry are friends; he is our trainer, but we were out last night and had great fun, and we will have some fun tonight too!”