Map Of Stars delivered the fast results at Royal Ascot on opening day, beating Wimbledon Hawkeye by half a length in the Wolferton Stakes and becoming the first French-trained winner of the race. The win also gave Wathnan Racing its first winner of the meeting.
Map Of Stars and Wimbledon Hawkeye
James McDonald guided Map Of Stars through the finish after the horse wore blinkers for the first time. McDonald said the horse was almost asleep early, then responded spectacularly when asked to quicken.
“He is a horse of tremendous quality. At first, he was almost asleep, but when I asked him to quicken, he responded spectacularly.”
Wimbledon Hawkeye finished second, with Dividend third. James Owen said for a moment he thought his runner had the race, but added that they were beaten by a very good horse and were delighted with the performance.
Graffard’s Royal Ascot breakthrough
Francis-Henri Graffard trained the winner, who had finished fourth in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot a year ago behind Ombudsman and was runner-up in the Prix Ganay last season. The Wolferton Stakes is a Listed race on the Royal Ascot program, and Map Of Stars had not turned those earlier efforts into a win at this level before now.
Graffard said, “When he is relaxed, he is a horse with an extraordinary turn of foot.” He also said, “He is a horse that you have to let do what he wants.”
He added that he wanted to run him in a Listed race in the center of France, but was told there was absolutely no chance and that they were coming to Ascot instead.
Wathnan Racing’s first winner
Richard Brown said the victory was huge for Wathnan Racing because it was the first winner of the meeting. That leaves the opening day with a clear marker for the stable and a race result that now belongs to French training history as well as Ascot’s opening card.
