LAGOSTOVEGAS TRIUMPHS FOR MIGHTY MULLINS
LAGOSTOVEGAS provided Willie Mullins with a fourth victory in the Ascot Stakes.
The 12-times champion jumps trainer had previously struck gold in the two-and-a-half-mile handicap with Simenon (2012), Clondaw Warrior (2015) and last year’s winner Thomas Hobson and this year launched a fivepronged assault.
Dual-purpose mare Lagostovegas, who was sporting a hood for the first time, travelled strongly throughout in the hands of Andrea Atzeni and finished strongly to get up and beat Karen McLintock’s Dubawi Fifty by a length.
Mullins was also responsible for the third, fourth and fifth home in Stratum, Chelkar and Whiskey Sour.
He said: ‘I thought this mare might struggle to get the trip. I don’t know what the time was, but it didn’t look a very strong gallop, which played into her hands.
‘Stratum was a bit wide on the track and Chelkar pulled too hard.
‘This race and the Queen Alexandra on Saturday are the two races we have horses qualified to run in, so it’s nice to be able to target a few horses.
‘It keeps us busy during the summer and if any of these keep progressing, we’ll target them at the big summer races like the Ebor.
‘There’s more prize-money going into staying races over here these days.’
The first race of the day, Queen Anne Stakes, saw a shock winner in Accidental Agent.
Trained by Eve Johnson Houghton, the four-year-old was a largely unconsidered 33-1 shot for the Group One contest over the straight mile, having finished sixth behind the reopposing Rhododendron in last month’s Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.
An emotional Johnson Houghton — bagging her first ever Group One success — admitted she had been hoping for a place at best.
She said: ‘I thought I was tilting at windmills and I dreamt about being third. I thought ‘my god, I’m going to be placed’ — there was an awful lot of screaming going on.
‘It’s just ridiculous. I have all my cousins and brothers and my mum here — I don’t think she’s ever going to get over it.
‘She was bred by my mum. My mum is the little woman in a flood of tears. What a legend she is. I am so proud of her and I had a little bit on at 50-1 to pay for the party.
‘I just can’t believe it. I felt sorry for those around us during the race. They must be deaf now! You might have to man the lifeboats as there will be floods of tears.
‘We couldn’t sell him so we bought him back for 8,000 guineas. I haven’t really slept for two days.
‘A Group One winner. I’ve never trained a Group winner or a Royal Ascot winner.’
Mum Gaie Johnson Houghton, the owner-breeder, said: ‘She had got him as well as he’d ever been. It’s the first time she’s got him to the races with a clear run this year. He’s had a few hiccups. It’s what dreams are made of.’