Racing: June could hardly be more jubilant for Newmarket trainer Michael Bell as he added to Sariska's Investec Oaks win by capturing Royal Ascot's Golden Jubilee Stakes with Art Connoisseur.
Just two weeks on from landing his second Epsom Classic and Bell was again celebrating a top-level success as Tom Queally brought his three-year-old from the rear to claim the highlight on the final day of the meeting.
A strong international challenge assembled in opposition but the global raiders found the home defence too strong. South African J J The Jet Plane cut out the early running but he weakened along with Hong Kong superstar Sacred Kingdom through the final two furlongs.
Queally, meanwhile, capitalised on a gap along the stands rail to bring the 20-1 chance through and fend off Wesley Ward’s American raider, Cannonball, by a neck.
A Guineas campaign for the winner was scrapped after he failed to stay in his trial, and the colt — in which Bell has a quarter share — blossomed on the return to the track at which he blitzed the field in last year’s Coventry.
Bell said: “He was second to Mastercraftsman in Ireland last year after he won the Coventry, then he fractured a cannonbone in the Gimcrack which everyone knew about.
“We ran him in the Free Handicap to see if he would stay a mile for the Guineas. He clearly ran like a sprinter in that race and this has been the target all along.
“I would have been more confident but a month ago he popped a splint and was very sore on it. He swam twice a day for a fortnight, then he came back in and has been cantering for a fortnight.
“He worked very nicely but this is still a big surprise. I thought he was a boy against men, but he answered every call and Tom gave him a peach of a ride.”
The ride was a lucrative spare for Queally after Jamie Spencer was suspended for careless riding in the Oaks — a race in which Queally partnered the narrowly-beaten runner-up Midday.
Hayley Turner would normally have then stepped into the plate, but the leading female jockey is currently sidelined by the British Horseracing Authority on medical grounds following a fall earlier in the year.