Poet’s Word is a thing of beauty

Poet’s Word created history in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes to give Sir Michael Stoute a record-breaking 76th Royal Ascot victory and lower the colours of Cracksman in the process.

In the Champion Stakes last October, Cracksman beat Poet’s Word by seven lengths and turning the tables was expected to be tough.

Cracksman was lethargic when winning the Coronation Cup last time out but trainer John Gosden believed he had excuses. He was even more off his game this time and Frankie Dettori was working away on the long odds-on favourite soon after leaving the stalls.

To his credit, Cracksman hit the front in the straight, but he had no answer when James Doylewentsweepingpasthim.

Sent off at 11-2, Poet’s Word shot clear, leaving Cracksman’s connections scratching their heads.

Stoute, who was eclipsing the mark set by the late Sir Henry Cecil, said: “It’s a relief because we were stuck on it (75 winners) last year. It (Royal Ascot) is special to every trainer.

“We’ve been very lucky to have a lot of nice horses over the years.

“Maybe Cracksman isn’t at his best now, but we beat the others comprehensively. He’s a very consistent, brave horse.”

Aidan O’brien is confident Order Of St George is at the top of his game ahead of his bid to claim a second Gold Cup at Royal Ascot this afternoon.

The six-year-old was a dominant winner of the two-anda-half-mile showpiece in 2016 and was beaten just a short head by Big Orange in last year’s renewal.

O’brien has followed a tried and tested route with his charge this spring, saddling him to win both the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan and the Saval Beg at Leopardstown – the same two races he contested last year.

The Ballydoyle handler, who is bidding for a record eighth Gold Cup victory, said: “Everything has gone well with him since his last run at Navan.

“We are as happy with him going into the Gold Cup as we have been with him in any of the other years he has gone there.”

The horse widely regarded as Order Of St George’s biggest threat is the four-year-old Stradivarius. John Gosden’s colt won the Queen’s Vase at last year’s Royal meeting and went on to lift the Goodwood Cup later in the summer. He was narrowly beaten in the St Leger, finished third behind Order Of St George in Ascot’s Long Distance Cup in October and made an impressive reappearance in last month’s Yorkshire Cup.

Gosden said: “He’s in great nick and he has come out of his win at York very well.

“It will be a helluva test, the two and a half miles. Once he goes beyond two miles, it is uncharted territory.

“We are very hopeful he will get the trip. If he doesn’t, we know what we will do – we will go to a Goodwood Cup and prepare for a Melbourne Cup.”

Assessing the opposition, the trainer added: “Order Of St George is obviously a good horse, as is the Aga Khan’s horse (Vazirabad) and the horse that won the Sagaro (Torcedor). It’s got great depth in it this year. So often the Gold Cup can be a little bit thin on quality, but it’s an exciting Gold Cup this year.”