The status or purse of a stakes race is not always what it makes it unforgettable for some people.
Trainer George Weaver, his family, and the merry owners of the 2-year-old filly Crimson Advocate will surely agree with that fact of life in Thoroughbred racing.
As much as it was a group 2 stakes with a purse of about €115,000, the June 21 edition of the Queen Mary Stakes will be a moment locked away in the minds and hearts of everyone involved with Crimson Advocate's rather heroic victory by a very slim nose.
The setting, of course, made it supremely special. Historic Royal Ascot in England. Perhaps the world's most famous and splendid race meet.
For the 52-year-old Weaver, who is based in New York and Florida throughout the year, the victory made him just the third American trainer to win a race at the royal meeting, joining Wesley Ward with an astonishing 12 wins and Mark Casse, who was victorious in 2016 with Tepin.
"It's not some run of the mill accomplishment. It's a difficult thing to do, even for the top European stables," Weaver said.
Yet as much as the win in a huge field of 26 was surprising—a point underscored by 10-1 odds in American betting pools—the race was a victory for the Weavers and the connections even before it started.
Nearly a year earlier, Cindy Hutter, Weaver's wife, suffered a serious brain injury July 3 when a horse she was working at Saratoga Race Course's Oklahoma Training Track died and she was trapped underneath it. The injury also left the popular backstretch figure with multiple broken bones, and it sparked a huge outpouring of support as the New York racing community collectively held its breath awaiting some good news. It took a few weeks, but she finally awoke from the ordeal and began to slowly piece her life back together.
It was the start of a difficult recovery process that is not yet fully complete, though the mere fact that she was able to travel with her husband and their 20-year-old son, Ben, to Ascot was a bigger reason to celebrate than the victory itself.
"Going in I felt it was a victory for us as a family since Cindy had progressed well enough to make the trip and we truly enjoyed it," Weaver said. "She's doing well. She's put in a lot of hard work and made a lot of progress. That doesn't mean it is all easy. There are still some things that are difficult for her to do without help, but she's made a lot of progress and we're all very happy.
"This victory felt bigger than the purse attached to it. We've won some big races like the Carter (G1) and the Met Mile (G1), but I don't think I've had such a big outpouring of support and people being happy for you. This would be the top in my career about people being ecstatic. People are so grateful that their prayers were answered and Cindy is doing so well."
The owners were equally thrilled about everything involved in a trip to England that could not have unfolded any better. Among the ownership group of Randy Hill, Reagan Swinbank, Bill Daugherty of BlackRidge Stables, Jake Ballis of Black Type Thoroughbreds, Rick Pitino, the Hall of Fame men's basketball coach at St. John's University, and Chris Mara, senior personnel consultant for the NFL's New York Giants and a member of the New York Racing Association's Board of Directors, there was a deep understanding that it was a twin victory for the power of the human spirit and a fleet filly.
"It was great. It was so emotional. Cindy was there and she was crying. She was so happy to be there. She's one of my favorite people. I was nearly crying, I couldn't get over it," said Hill, who has been sending horses to Weaver for 20 years and owned Vekoma , Weaver's $1.2 million earner and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2), Carter Handicap, and Metropolitan Handicap winner who is now a stallion at Spendthrift Farm. "I am so glad for George. We've been together for so long and have won some big races together. I know how much this meant to him."
Adding to the emotions was the heart-stopping manner of the victory.
"I've watched the replay and I still don't think we won the photo," Mara said.
In a massive field of 26 2-year-old fillies—a sight unseen in the United States but common at Royal Ascot—the daughter of Nyquist broke from the rail nearest the grandstand on the right-to-left course. Two other American starters, VinLaur, West Paces, and Rainbow's End's Cynane for trainer Tom Morley and Three Chimneys' Bundchen for Ward, were 10th and 22nd, respectively, in the five-furlong test.
Making just her third career start, Crimson Advocate was slower away from the gate than usual, but John Velazquez hustled her to the front. In one of the Hall of Famer's most masterful rides, he managed to get her nose down first at the wire. The European-based Relief Rally staged a furious rally to draw alongside Crimson Advocate in the final desperate yards. A stride before the wire and a stride after it, Relief Rally was ahead. But when it mattered most, Velazquez pushed his filly across the wire first.
"She breaks out of the gate like a shot but she hesitated this time," Hill said. "So I give a lot of credit to Johnny V. I always say in a big spot you want Johnny. This is one of the most prestigious races and that's why you need someone like Johnny."
The impetus for going to Ascot came from a novel agreement between Ascot and Gulfstream Park. A pair of May 13 turf sprint stakes for colts and fillies at the Florida track became automatic qualifiers for a Royal Ascot 2-year-old stakes, with the winners getting a spot in a race and $25,000 in traveling expenses.
Weaver, as it turned out, won both Florida races. Crimson Advocate, a daughter of the Proud Citizen mare Citizen Advocate, bred by Whitehall Lane Farm and bought for $100,000 from the Beth Bayer consignment at the 2022 OBS October Yearling Sale, took the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths.
In the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes, No Nay Mets won for Weaver and the Bregman Family Racing Stable of Houston Astros and World Series star Alex Bregman. Ninth in the June 22 Norfolk Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot, the son of No Nay Never was sold for $1,205,796 at the Goffs London Sale a few days before the Norfolk, with Bregman maintaining a majority interest and Weaver staying on as trainer.
With the prospect of two Ascot starters, it was an opportunity for the Weavers to return to Ascot that they could not refuse. Back in 2015 they were there with Cyclogenisis, who was 14th at 33-1 odds in the Commonwealth Cup (G1), which planted the seed for them to return.
"When I went the first time, the horse was talented but not good enough. I left there thinking about how nice it would be to win a race there. It's a special accomplishment in and of itself, and we left in 2015 with that in the back of our mind. It's the coolest place to go. If you love horse racing, you have to see it. But we never had the right kind of horse to go back until this year," said Weaver, a former D. Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher assistant who has won 936 races since 2002.
"Both were stakes winners and where do you go from there? There's not a lot of options for 2-year-olds in America right now. They were precocious and both earned the right to go over and try, so we did it. It was the right thing to do.
"It's not easy logistically to go over there, so the horse has to jump up and tell you what the next step is, and they both did that when they won at Gulfstream and stamped themselves as legitimate Ascot contenders. With no options here in the United States for a 2-year-old turf stakes, it was a no-brainer to go."
Hill returned to Ascot for the first time since 2019 when he and his wife, Marina, traveled there to watch Hotsy Totsy finish third in a handicap race, and the experience left a lasting impression.
"You want to go back after the first trip because it is so unbelievable. Marina is always saying, 'Let's go back to Ascot,' and I tell her, 'Yeah, sure, I'll call 1-800-GiveMeAnAscotHorse," Hill said.
This time that call was answered and the Hills were fashion plates on the scene, with Randy eschewing his usual track wear of a flamboyant shirt for the traditional Ascot gentlemen's morning coat and top hat.
"I really wish Randy had tried to wear one of his shirts at Ascot," Weaver said. "That would have been beautiful."
As it turned out, Hill was as dapper in the winner's circle as King Charles would be two days later.
"There is nothing to match the experience," he said. "I had 71 texts waiting for me by the time I got home."
For Weaver, there was special satisfaction in sharing the coveted victory with a longtime client and friend in Hill.
"For me and Randy to stand together in the winner's circle was fantastic," said Weaver, who won three races with Hill on the June 15 card at Belmont Park. "All of the owners are a really great group of people and I'm happy for all of them."
For Mara, who has experienced four Super Bowl wins as a member of the Giants' ownership family, it marked a return to Ascot for the first time in 35 years with a euphoric exclamation point.
"Winning a race at Ascot was never on my bucket list, but now that it has happened, it should have been. It's so exciting," Mara said. "It was a life experience, whether you own a horse or go over as a fan. It's definitely something you need to experience."
With memories locked away forever, Crimson Advocate will get her chance to write new ones this summer when she resumes racing, with a possible target of the Aug. 20 Bolton Landing Stakes at Saratoga and perhaps the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) in the fall at Santa Anita Park.
A win in either would be a tremendous thrill, but it's uncertain if that would ever top what happened in the land of top hats, elegant dresses, and incredible dreams better known as Royal Ascot.
