Byword has last word in winning Prince of Wales’ Stakes at Royal Ascot

Favorite Byword wins at Royal Ascot

ASCOT, England — Byword surged into the lead in the stretch and held off Twice Over by a half length to win the Prince of Wales’ Stakes at Royal Ascot on Wednesday.

With Queen Elizabeth II in attendance for the second straight day, the 4-year-old Byword won for the third time in four starts this year. The colt’s only defeat came against Goldikova, the 5-year-old mare who won the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday’s opening day at the prestigious meet.

Byword, the 5-2 favorite in a 12-horse field, was fourth for most of the 1¼-mile Group 1 race before jockey Maxime Guyon urged him into the lead. Guyon was riding his first race in Britain.

“The horse had the ability to win the race, but I was a bit worried about the inexperience of the jockey,” winning trainer Andre Fabre said. “He has nerves and he is young, which I always like. He rides all the horses at home (in France) and knows what they want and he doesn’t use his whip a lot, which I like.”

Byword and Twice over are both owned by Saudi prince Khalid Abdullah.

Tazeez, who led most of the way, finished third.

Fabre said Byword is just coming into his own after a virus limited his training last year.

“He is a horse that can go for the big mile races, he won’t go further than 10 furlongs,” Fabre said. “Maybe something like the Prix Jacques le Marois next. We’ll discuss it with the Prince.”

Also, Rainfall became the first filly to win the Jersey Stakes since 1991, breaking the track record in the process. Trained by Mark Johnston, Rainfall went past early leader Red Jazz to win by a head, with Rock Jock coming third.

In the Windsor Forest Stakes, Strawberrydaiquiri held off Spacious to win the mile race. Favorite Antara finished third.

Frankie Dettori rode Invisible Man to victory in the Royal Hunt Cup, ahead of Riggins and St

Moritz.

In the Queen Mary Stakes, Maqaasid took the lead in the final 100 meters and finished a neck ahead of Meow. Ladies Are Forever was third in the fillies’ Group 2 race.

Timepiece gave prince Khalid Abdullah a second win on the day with a victory in the 17-horse Sandringham Handicap. The win for trainer Henry Cecil was an unprecedented 72nd at Royal Ascot.