Docklands bounced back to go one better and cause a 14-1 shock as he narrowly denied Rosallion in the Queen Anne Stakes (G1) June 17 to open the Royal Ascot meeting in thrilling fashion.
Trained by Harry Eustace and ridden by Mark Zahra, last year's Queen Anne runner-up battled it out to the line alongside Rosallion and came out on the right side of a photo finish, despite his jockey dropping his whip.
"Everyone kept scaring me about the whip rules," Zahra said. "I thought it was easier just to throw it away at the 200!"
The opening contest sparked into life with two furlongs remaining as Lead Artist, Dancing Gemini, and Quddwah led as the pace picked up, but Docklands, who finished 2 1/4 lengths behind Charyn 12 months ago, and Rosallion both hit the accelerator button and charged to the line.
Although Zahra parted ways with his whip, he did just enough to hold off the 5-2 favorite by a nose, with 100-1 shot Cairo the nearest challenger back in third for Alice Haynes.
"It's pretty sweet, but I've lost my voice," Eustace said. "I thought it was tough to watch and a photo finish is tough, but he deserves to be in this because he's an absolute legend for us. If ever there's a track where you want a specialist, it's here. It's the best racing.
"The work and the effort of everyone back home is the reason we're still here, and I can't thank them enough. He's an absolute star. He loves being a racehorse and he's very competitive."
Eustace thanked owner OTI Racing for retaining the horse and taking another shot at the Queen Anne.
"I can't thank Terry (Henderson) and OTI enough. He got offered a huge amount of money after he won the Britannia Stakes, but they wanted to enjoy a good racehorse and roll the dice, and hopefully it's paid off."
Zahra said it was important to stay in range early because of a slow pace in the straight mile test for older horses.
"The race was very slow and I just kept creeping as much as I could," Zahra said. "We got the room at the right time and he burst through, and he just kept responding. I'm making the most of it and what an amazing feeling."
In his European debut, Carl Spackler raced prominently early under James McDonald but faded to sixth. A three-time grade 1 winner in North America for trainer Chad Brown, in May Carl Spackler was sold privately to Yulong Investments (Australia). The Charlie Appleby-trained Notable Speech never appeared to get going as he finished fourth, while Lead Artist and Dancing Gemini were tailed off in seventh and eighth respectively.
Eustace marvels at his 5-year-old son of Massaat, bred in Ireland by Mickley Stud.
"He has the most unbelievable mind and constitution," Eustace said. "He loves being a racehorse, he loves it every single day, and he is very competitive."
As a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series event, the victory in the Queen Anne Stakes granted the winner a fees-paid berth in the starting gate of the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
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