Blue Point foils Battaash in King’s Stand thriller Blue Point wore down Battaash to claim top honours in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. The five-furlong sprint was billed as a match between the Charlie Hills-trained Battaash and Wesley Ward’s defending champion Lady Aurelia, who was bidding for a third Royal Ascot victory overall. Battaash, who has played up in the preliminaries previously, was perfectly well behaved on this occasion and flew out of the stalls once the gates opened to take the early lead. With Lady Aurelia failing to pick up, Battaash briefly looked to have cut loose racing inside the final two furlongs. However, Charlie Appleby’s Blue Point (6-1) managed to reel him in late on and was well on top at the line under William Buick, scoring by a length and three-quarters. Battaash just held on for second place, ahead of Mabs Cross in third.
