Naval Crown edges Creative Force in Platinum Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot for Charlie Appleby one-two

James Doyle rides Naval Crown to a famous victory in the Platinum Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot
PA
Molly Hunter18 June 2022

Naval Crown had to settle for second-best behind his Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate Creative Force in last season's Jersey Stakes - but he avenged that defeat in style as he powered up the stands rail at odds of 33-1 to claim the Platinum Jubilee Stakes.

Separated by the width of the Ascot track, James Doyle's mount, who had been running over further than the six furlongs throughout his career until a fourth-placed effort in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan, got the better of the William Buick-ridden Creative Force (12-1) by a neck, despite losing his off-hind shoe.

While free-going Australian raider Home Affairs was sent off the 5-2 favourite, he had run his race by the furlong pole and the Godolphin pair were followed home by a blanket of horses, with America's Campanelle sticking to her guns to dead-heat with Australia's Artorius.

Appleby said: "There wasn't a lot between them at home. Will rode the winner in a gallop the other day and said there wasn't much between them. Both were in great nick, but Naval Crown is still learning about the sprint division and he was all at sea in Saudi.

"But he finished fourth in the Guineas and is a rock solid horse, and over that stiff six furlongs we saw his natural pace.

"James said he just needed to get to the rail, but the ground was quick enough for Creative. They are two Dubawis and as tough as teak. The July Cup is the obvious race for them, and I see no reason not to go for it."

He added: "I'm just lucky to be in the position for these horses to come through my door. "2022 has gone well so far, but there is still a long way to go."

Ascot 16June

Royal Ascot 2022 - Day Three
1/5

Doyle said: "I would be lying if I said I expected him to win today. We were certainly hopeful dropping him back in trip. He seems to be pretty quick. He was a hot favourite for a race in Saudi Arabia, but we had a sticky draw and he just ran off with me.

"Myself and Charlie had a chat about dropping him back and Naval Crown ran well in the Al Quoz when he was fourth. He's not short on speed, he was travelling nicely behind Home Affairs and he saw it out well. It's brilliant."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in