War declared in Royal Ascot opener

Dubai: Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom’s quest for a perfect ending to his sparkling career ended in heartbreak when he finished unplaced in the £350,000 (Dh2.01 million) Queen Anne Stakes (G1) on the opening day of Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

Sent off as the odds-on favourite, the 2011 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner looked out of sorts in a strongly-run race that was won in fine style by the Irish-trained Declaration Of War, ridden by Joseph O’Brien.

Aljamaaheer, ridden by Paul Hanagan for Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, finished three-quarters of a length behind in second, with Gregorian, carrying the colours of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, back in third.

Declaration Of War appeared to have improved in leaps and bounds following his defeat to Godolphin’s Farhh in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury last month, pushing his rider O’Brien to say: “I’m still not quite sure what happened at Newbury, but this is a very good horse.”

O’Brien, who was recording the 38th Royal Ascot winner of his career, said: “We are delighted. We thought the world of him last year. He just had an easy win first time at Leopardstown and then he went to the Lockinge. “I left him unready and he wasn’t ready for the race at the time, but he has made great progress since and has come back to what we thought and hoped he would be.”

Animal Kingdom’s trainer Graham Motion showed magnanimity in defeat and said: “We’re not used to running in the middle of the track, but I’m just sorry for everyone that it didn’t work out as we had hoped. Johnny said he had to fight very hard and didn’t find much when he asked him. The ground was softer than we thought, but that is no excuse.”

Aljamaaheer’s trainer, Roger Varian, was left disappointed, saying: “It’s frustrating, but we have no complaints. The race panned out exactly as we had hoped, but the winner just quickened up better than us.

“He’ll be in all the big mile races and we’ll just try to win a Group race with him.”