Hughes sets sights on Royal Ascot with America Queen

America Queen will aim to put a nightmare Irish Guineas trip behind her with compensation in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot next month.

Richard Hughes was left fuming after his Nell Gwyn runner-up was denied a run in the Curragh Classic on Sunday, with racecourse veterinary officials unhappy with her action at the start.

This was despite Hughes providing X-ray evidence to show the Havana Grey filly was sound, obtained after similar concerns were raised by vets at Newmarket on her reappearance.

Hughes threatened to boycott Irish racing in the aftermath and while he remains angry about their treatment at the Curragh, he admitted compensation in the Group Three contest would improve his mood significantly.

“America Queen is none the worse for her trip. She was 100 per cent afterwards and we are happy with her,” said Hughes. “And while she has a couple of entries at Ascot I think the Jersey is the obvious race for her.

“She has a brilliant turn of foot and she is on your side – she really tries. So if she runs in the Jersey she would have a massive chance, it would be nice to get a win under her belt and it has been a lucky race for me.”

Hughes admits America Queen is not the most fluent mover in her slower paces. “Some days she is better than others but it does not stop her running fast,” said the trainer, who won the Jersey three times as a jockey.

The filly won her maiden at Haydock by 12 lengths before hitting the frame in the Lowther Stakes at York and rounding off her season with a fourth in the Cheveley Park.

“She was thrown in the deep end a couple of times. I thought she ran a blinder in the Lowther on the second run of her life,” said Hughes.

“She ran a blinder in the Cheveley Park when she didn’t get the run of the race and then got robbed in the Nell Gwyn – just caught on the line. So a Jersey win would be lovely and make up for it.”

Hughes remains frustrated with a wasted trip to Ireland, saying: “We have had no apology from anyone in Ireland and I wouldn’t expect one.

“But there were two horses in the Guineas (about which concerns were raised at the start) – one an Irish horse and my horse. His horse trotted up similar to mine and he has been asked to get X-rays for the next time it runs to make sure there is nothing sinister going on. I’d already done that, but they were allowed to run.”

Outlining the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s position, communications manager Niall Cronin said: “The IHRB appreciates the effort and anticipation involved in race preparation and the consequent disappointment for connections where a horse does not ultimately run. However, veterinary officers must make suitability to race decisions on the basis of the horse’s clinical presentation on the day together with the information available to them at the time.

“Regulatory veterinary officers across international racing jurisdictions have a broadly consistent approach to grading apparent lameness. These are clinical assessments involving professional judgement rather than a single mechanistic threshold or test.

“In the case of America Queen, the horse did not improve sufficiently, despite repeated examination and warm-up. Additional veterinary information provided in the course of the examination was not considered sufficient to address the veterinary officers’ concerns regarding the horse’s clinical presentation at the racecourse.

“Although the approach to assessing horses is consistent, different horses may therefore result in different outcomes depending on their clinical presentation, response to examination and warm-up, veterinary history, and the overall welfare and safety assessment made by the veterinary officers on duty.”