Medicean set for Royal Ascot swansong Jeremy Gask will have mixed emotions when he saddles Medicean Man for the last time at Royal Ascot on Tuesday. The veteran sprinter signs off from racing duties by making a sixth successive appearance in the King's Stand Stakes - his eighth in all at the Royal meeting and his 20th start at his beloved Berkshire course. The 11-year-old will also be Gask's final Royal Ascot runner before he returns to his native Australia for "another chapter" in his training career. Medicean Man has been Gask's flagbearer in his 10 years in the UK with a string of top-class performances in big handicaps and Pattern races. However, his best effort probably came in defeat when he was just pipped on the line by Goldream in the King's Stand two years ago. And he was only beaten two lengths when sixth to Profitable in the five-furlong Group One 12 months ago. "The old boy has taken us to six countries but one of them, Singapore, he didn't get to race as he lost a shoe," Gask told Press Association Sport. "He's been a wonderful horse and part of the family. I think retiring him at Royal Ascot is only fitting for him. "The ground looks like being nice and quick. It looks like a really strong race, as always, but he's rarely run poorly in the race. "He's been in the first four a couple of times, was just snuffed out once and I'm sure he'll be thereabouts with a bit of luck. "He'll be my only runner, so I can sit back and enjoy the week after getting the run out of the way on the first day!" Medicean Man has won 13 of his 77 races, having been placed 15 times and amassed almost £623,000 in prize-money. While the son of Medicean moves on to pastures new, Gask is also about to embark upon the next stage of his life. Next month he returns to Australia to set up training in Newcastle, in New South Wales. Though he will be starting off low key, Gask has high hopes for the future. "It's all coming together slowly. I'll be heading back towards the last week of July. It will be sad to go, for sure," he said. "We'll only have a small yard to start off with, but I've got some nice friends and owners who are keen to help me get started and we'll see how it goes from there." Gask had 250 winners in his last five seasons Down Under and has trained nearly 200 winners on these shores. He will forever remember his stay in the UK and the opportunity it gave him to further his career. "We will look back on it with very fond memories," he said. "There's been definite ups and downs, but some great highs and some great experiences. "We've loved it here. It will be sad to go, but it will be another chapter."
