Hickory a family affair for Osbornes in Victoria Cup Hickory got the nod in a thrilling three-way photo finish to the £100,000 Schweppes Victoria Cup for Jamie and Saffie Osborne at Ascot. Ralph Beckett’s Qirat looked the one to beat when storming to the front, while Irish raider Gleneagle Bay was flashing home late on under Hollie Doyle. However, in between that pair, bottom-weight Hickory (22-1), having his first run for the stable following a seven-month break, finished powerfully from the rear to just get home in front by a nose and a short head, with Qirat second and Gleneagle Bay third. Saffie Osborne had ridden Hickory twice over the same course and seven-furlong distance last year when he was trained by James Fanshawe, finishing fourth in this contest and a close seventh in the Moet & Chandon in July. He was bought for 26,000 guineas in October and collected £51,540 for this success, justifying Jamie Osborne’s decision to run him without a visor, cheekpieces or blinkers for the first time in seven outings. Saffie Osborne told Sky Sports Racing: “I got some kick out of that. I didn’t think I’d won, so I was a bit shocked when the result came back. “He’s a horse that I’ve known really well and he’s been fairly unlucky in big races, but I just got a dream trip through and I was just delighted. “These are owners, the Booths, that had horses with dad when I was a toddler, so it’s really cool that they are back in the yard 20 years later and it’s obviously a great first run for the yard as well. “When he was with James, he always ran his best races with headgear on, but his work had been pretty exemplary for an older horse and off a light weight, I was confident that he would run a big race. “These are the days that we ride horses for and it’s really nice that the photo came off the right way for us.”
