Bracelet sparkles at Royal Ascot Bracelet bounced back from her disappointing display in last month's Qipco 1000 Guineas to give Aidan and Joseph O'Brien victory in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot. Having made a winning reappearance at Leopardstown at the end of March, the daughter of Montjeu failed to fire in the Rowley Mile Classic and was a 10-1 shot stepped up to a mile and a half and fitted with a hood for the first time. Buried in the middle of the pack while her stablemate Terrific played the role of pacemaker, Bracelet edged closer to the front end still moving sweetly rounding the home bend, and though she had to be pulled wide to challenge once straightened up, she got rolling from the two-furlong marker and saw out the trip well to hold off the late challenge of Lustrous by half a length. Criteria was just a head away in second, with French-trained favourite Vazira making up a lot of ground from the back of the field to take fourth. The O'Brien team were getting on the scoresheet for the first time this week. Joseph O'Brien said: "She travelled well, she did everything right through the race. "We went a nice even pace, but I probably got there a bit soon, so I had to keep going with her. "She's tough, she stays and she tries. I could hear the others coming but I was always holding them." Aidan O'Brien said: "They've been running very ordinary. They all looked very healthy, so it's a big relief. Some we thought would have done better, but we just have to be patient. "Ryan said when he rode her in the Guineas to step her up to a mile and a half and we popped a hood on her at home and that seemed to help her. "I suppose well have to look at the Irish Oaks now." Richard Hannon said of the runner-up: "She ran a super race. We supplemented her for the Irish Oaks and she'll run a big race there." John Gosden said of Criteria: "She ran a blinder. They played about with the pace a bit but she's now Listed- and Group-placed. "She'll need freshening up but we'd then look for a Listed race somewhere and hopefully work towards the Park Hill. My other filly (Bright Approach) found the ground too quick and the trip too far." Christophe Soumillon said the favourite Vazira, who finished fourth, needs to do some work on leaving the stalls. He said: "She is a big filly and does a few bad things in the gate. I was hoping we could go in last but we couldn't. "With a filly like her with a lot of stamina to be last in a race like this, even with a strong pace, it is nearly impossible to make up ground. "I think the way she ran today is good for the future because we know she is going to stay."
