It just seemed meant to be. Ballydoyle maestro Aidan O'Brien left it until the feature race of the meeting to bring up an incredible 100 Royal Ascot winners as Scandinavia (11-8 favourite) secured a superb victory in the Ascot Gold Cup.
Having landed three earlier successes over the first two days through Great Barrier Reef (Coventry Stakes), Mission Central (King Charles III Stakes) and Victorious (Queen Mary Stakes), O'Brien stood on the threshold of becoming the first trainer to reach the century. And he claimed the landmark success in the big one as under Ryan Moore, the four-year-old son of Justify got the better of last year's Gold star Trawlerman (10-3) in a thrilling conclusion to the 2m4f Group One.
Scandinavia was beaten into fifth in the 1m6f Queen’s Vase at this meeting last season but has now won six in a row since including grabbing Classic glory in the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster last September. He had already showed his staying power in winning in Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup at the Glorious Goodwood Festival before that success on Town Moor and a return to the Sussex Downs next month could see another clash with the John and Thady Gosden-trained Trawlerman.
After back-to-back wins in Listed and Group Three events at Navan and Leopardstown to start his season, Scandinavia was sent off the well-backed favourite. But Trawlerman – who wore ski goggles in the paddock to protect his sensitive eyes from the sun – appeared to be on for a second successive Gold Cup victory under William Buick. Again, the eight-year-old tried to make all the running as he had last year. But he couldn't hold off his younger rival, who after a long battle up the Ascot straight got the verdict by a head. Trawlerman's stable-mate Sweet William (11-1), like last year, was third but nine lengths back.
O'Brien's record 10 Gold Cup victories include the great four-time hero Yeats (2006-2009) and dual winner Kyprios (2022, 2024). And now he looks to have a fitting successor to those past winners in Scandinavia. The Ballydoyle handler grabbed his first victory at Royal Ascot when Harbour Master won the Coventry Stakes under Christy Roche in 1997 and there are no signs the 56-year-old will be stopping anytime soon.
O'Brien hailed a 'very special' achievement from his 'brave' winner, saying: "It's very special, it's a very special day for myself and everybody in Ballydoyle. There are so many people involved to help a horse get this far. Ryan gave him an absolute class, peach ride. That's just incredible really (100 Royal Ascot winners), it's something that we wouldn't dream of thinking about because for that to happen you could not believe. Even this week, it's literally one race at a time and you don't even think what it could be or whether it could happen because it's so competitive, so hard to win races here."
"We knew the second horse was a great horse, very brave. He joined him and you don't know until you go past that two furlong marker what's really going to happen but we felt he was very brave, he always showed that in every race, he's relentless, he cruises."
"It's an honour and a privilege for me to be involved with the team and be the small part that I am with everybody. The reality is everyone puts in the work and we watch it going on and I can't tell you how grateful we are to everybody."
"Any race you win... we love to be competitive and we love the competitive nature of everything and we like everybody building up around the race because that's what everyone has to feel. It was unusual today, we listened and I was able to hear everybody. The crowd was very big and the cheer went up when they turned in but when he went to the front the sound went up so I was very surprised at that and the noise got louder and louder and that's what it's all about. What can I say? It was just an incredible feeling."
Jockey Moore, who himself is closing in on a century of winners, was claiming his 96th at Royal Ascot and his second of the afternoon after Joseph O'Brien's Enceladus' victory in the King George V Stakes. He said: "He should have won easier! I was happy where I was and then Oisin came up around me and I didn't want us all going three in a line and then he took me out of the race and I've had to work to get to Trawlerman, thought I had it and then had to go again. Trawlerman is a brave horse, he kept coming."
"He (O'Brien) identifies these horses and brings them here, absolutely jumping out of their skin and I'm lucky to ride them. His (Scandinavia) record since he got beat here last year, he keeps finding a way to win. The answer with Aidan is he won't care (about 100 Royal Ascot winners), he'll probably be thinking about the next 100, that's what separates him."
