Lady Aurelia: 'I can remember Frankie shaking his fist and thinking he'd won'

Fans' Favourites is a weekly feature in the Racing Post Weekender in which we talk to those closest to racing's most popular horses and find out why they tug on our heartstrings. This week's subject: Lady Aurelia

For all of the many signature moments in the distinguished career of Frankie Dettori, it was this week just five years ago where one of his most unfortunate moments occurred.

The 2017 Nunthorpe Stakes was billed to be a classic with Marsha and Battaash in the line-up, yet it was the presence of US ace Lady Aurelia which really catapulted the race into a different stratosphere.

Fast, electric and relentless from the front she blasted away on the Knavesmire, grinding it out to repel Marsha in the tightest of calls. Well that’s what Dettori thought had happened as he jumped up in his irons and roared to the crowd in celebration.

On the big screen the photo-finish was shown, a gasp came from the crowd. It was close, almost too close, but the result soon came over the Tannoy and it was in fact Marsha’s nose in front on the line. Confusion and shock engulfed York. Dettori may have seemed confident, but trainer Wesley Ward was less so, in what is undoubtedly one of the quickest shifts of emotions he may ever experience.

Marsha (left) beats Lady Aurelia (Frankie Dettori) in the NunthorpeCredit: Edward Whitaker

“I can still remember Frankie at the wire getting up and shaking his fist thinking he’d won it,” the trainer recalls. “I went into the race confident, feeling that everything was good with her and we had the right rider who was the hottest on the planet at the time. Everything happened how we wanted apart from the last nostril of the race.

“My first thought was that we’d got beat, but when I saw Frankie I got hopeful. I was standing there with the cameras on me thinking I’m not quite sure Frankie got that right. It’s why I didn’t do any celebrating.”

While this was not Lady Aurelia’s day, there were plenty of others. Mesmerising performances always help build up a following for a horse, and the daughter of the great Scat Daddy delivered in style on her first trip to Britain.

The vibes were strong for the Queen Mary on a wet day at Royal Ascot in June 2016. Everyone wanted to back Lady Aurelia, who was representing a trainer with a penchant for sending out two-year-old winners at the meeting, so much so that she was sent off the 2-1 favourite.

Bursting from the gate, Dettori eased her to the front, from where she completely dominated her rivals. With the race already in the bag, Dettori asked for a change of gear inside the final two furlongs and the response was immediate. Lady Aurelia quickened again to score by seven lengths – a performance worthy of any superlative.

Lady Aurelia blitzes her rivals in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal AscotCredit: Charlie Crowhurst

While imperious on only her second start, reaching that point had not been a walk in the park.

“We started her training down in Florida where we did the normal routine with her,” says Ward.

“She got outworked the first time we tried her on turf. She was with another filly and I don’t think she really knew what was going on, but I stayed patient and the following week we went again and she was equal with that same filly.

“We then took her up to Keeneland where she breezed really good, then the next time it was like boom – a lightning bolt. You could just see it and we knew what we had.”

Lady Aurelia’s career started in April 2016 when she made her debut in a 4½f contest for fillies at Keeneland – where Ward regularly sent his leading juveniles.

Despite being sent off the 30-100 favourite, Ward says he was still nervous as his senior jockey Julio Garcia, who he commonly turns to for his two-year-olds, took her to post.

“I always put him on the better horses who are bound for Ascot because I want them to win, but not do too much,” Ward explains.

“But the day before the race there was another filly we had and she broke well, got to the front and Garcia eased off the rail, looked over to his right and saw nobody coming so stood up to ease her down. Sadly he didn’t look to the left and there was a filly getting closer and closer as my guy was pulling up – we got beat right on the wire by a nose.

“The following day I just said ‘Julio, you just ride her however you want to’ and he bounced out and won by a huge margin. We knew going in what we had, and coming out we were even more sure.

“Before we went to Ascot we breezed her with a couple of two-year-old winners at Arlington Park who were also going to Ascot. We knew she was the best of the three so we started her four lengths behind, but it was like a Volkswagen versus a Porsche – she just zoomed off and ran away from them. That’s when we knew she was super special.”

Confidence remained high for Ascot even with conditions, on paper, seemingly going against her. A heavy shower just before racing left the ground soft, with connections even considering not running her.

Ward recalls: “I remember getting a call from [owner] Barbara Banke, who was at one of her wineries in Italy, on the day.

“She said she planned on flying in, but the rain had come and asked if was I sure we wanted to run.

“I said I’d scratched horses before at Ascot but this filly had breezed on soft going at Arlington Park and flew on it. I said ‘Barbara, I’m sure’ – and we know what happened next.”

Lady Aurelia and John Velazquez run away with the 2017 King's Stand StakesCredit: Mark Cranham

Two months later Lady Aurelia was sent off at 2-7 for her first try at Group 1 level in the 6f Prix Morny at Deauville.

“I think everyone was in awe of her and being around not long after Frankel people were thinking she might emulate him,” says Ward. “She bounced away professionally under Frankie, but then in that last furlong he was having to niggle down on her a little bit. I was thinking ‘well, something is either amiss, or six furlongs is too far for her’.”

Lady Aurelia would go on to secure a first Group 1 win by three-quarters of a length, but Ward’s fears about the trip were proved correct when she was beaten on her next start in the Cheveley Park Stakes over 6f at Newmarket. Sent off the 4-6 favourite, she finished a tired third behind Brave Anna and Roly Poly.

“That definitely stamped it,” says Ward, referring to the six-furlong trip. “If you watch that race, Frankie just bounced away but she just couldn’t sustain it for that last little bit. We gave her some time off and knew five furlongs would be her game going forward.”

Lady Aurelia’s three-year-old season would be centred around a return to Royal Ascot for the 2017 King’s Stand Stakes over five furlongs. She had a prep race in the Listed Giant’s Causeway Stakes at Keeneland and proved her wellbeing with a decisive two-and-a-half length victory under John Velazquez. With Dettori out of Ascot due to injury, Velazquez got to retain the ride.

This time she didn’t lead, with Velazquez happy to track the pace before hitting the front a furlong a half out, the pair powering three lengths clear of Profitable, who had won the King’s Stand the year before.

“She just ran a brilliant race – it was an amazing moment,” says Ward. “Coming back and doing it the next year at Group 1 level was incredible, she was a three-year-old against older horses, but she just bounded away from them.”

The King’s Stand would be her last victory. She never fired in the Breeders’ Cup, was defeated at slim odds on her Ascot preparation at Keeneland and could finish just seventh behind Blue Point when attempting to defend the King’s Stand in 2018.

“I don’t truly know what happened, she just didn’t quite rebound,” says Ward. “I’d have liked her to keep going as there were never any physical issues. I wanted time, but she was such a valuable filly and the owners were happy to rest on their laurels. Looking back on what she achieved, that was understandable.”

Wesley Ward rewards Lady Aurelia with a drink of water after her King's Stand successCredit: Caroline Norris

Ward ranks Lady Aurelia “one of my all-time favourites” and he believes it was the joy of witnessing her supreme ability which made her such a standout.

“She was a real easy keeper,” he says. “I wouldn’t say she was the friendliest filly compared to the others I had, but she wanted to do her job and be left alone.

“She wasn’t mean, but just a great horse who was so easy to train – anyone could get on and gallop her.

“We never trained her too hard as she was a smallish filly, but she’d tell you in her morning works leading into the races what she’d do.

“She was an amazing filly and the accomplishments she gave me were great.”

While Lady Aurelia might not mesmerise as she once did on the racetrack, her legacy is far from over. She gave birth to a colt by Curlin in 2021 and this year produced a filly by Into Mischief. If mum’s quality has been passed on to the next generation, there will plenty to look forward to in the future.

Read more from our Fans' Favourites series:

Marsha: 'Once the bidding went past three million guineas, it was a blur'

Martha's Son: 'Put him on a racetrack and he'd find three more gears'

Desert Orchid: 'People thought it was an act of lunacy to run over three miles'

Denman: 'He could pick you up and chuck you out the box or take your arm off'

Looks Like Trouble: 'When he started to deliver he was damn-near invincible'

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