Moore rides his 50th winner at Royal Ascot Ryan Moore rode his 50th winner at Royal Ascot as Hunting Horn dominated his rivals in the Hampton Court Stakes. Aidan O’Brien’s colt was a 5-1 shot for this Group Three assignment, coming down in class after finishing a respectable sixth in the French Derby on his latest appearance. Moore settled Hunting Horn in midfield for much of the 10-furlong journey before making his move rounding the home turn and the son of Camelot fairly sprinted up the straight to score by four and a half lengths. Crossed Baton was best of the rest in second ahead of Zaaki in third. Moore told ITV Racing: “He ran a really good race in the French Derby and he has progressed with every start this year. “The race went smoothly for him. He got there and had a look around, he wasn’t doing much in the last furlong. He’s a progressive horse but obviously that was a big jump forward from anything he’d done before. “Having 51 winners would mean a lot more.” O’Brien said: “We’re delighted with him. He had a lovely run at Sandown. He’s by Camelot, he travels well and quickens well and we thought a mile and a quarter would suit him. “Ryan gave him a lovely ride. The lads who look after him at home were very happy with him so I couldn’t be happier with him. “He relaxes well and quickens, his dad was like that. When there’s a pace on, he’s happy and it was a nice evenly run race. “He’s got a lot of options, he can step up to a mile and a half, you could have a look at an Eclipse, you could go to France or we could give him a little bit of time as well. He’s been busy the last couple of weeks. “I’m delighted for Ryan (to get his 50th) he gave him a great ride and we’re delighted to have him.” John Gosden was satisfied with the performance of Crossed Baton and said: “It was a lovely run and a great ride from Rab (Havlin) from the outside. “He gave him every chance and I thought the winner was too good myself. We would have been beaten from any draw by the winner. The winner has won very well and we are thrilled to be second.” Sir Michael Stoute said of third-placed Zaaki: “He was just a little slow into his stride and as a result he just gave himself too much to do but it was a good performance. “He had good form last year and he came to me rated 100. The trip is spot on for him.”
