Royal Ascot 2022: Racing Post reporters on the week's major talking points

Over five glorious days, Royal Ascot provided some spectacular racing plus some major talking points. Here, four Racing Post reporters discuss some of the hot topics.

Is local knowledge the key to success?

By Peter Scargill, reporter

Wesley Ward's pioneering visits to Royal Ascot over the years have yielded him spectacular success and propelled his career forward in ways he unlikely imagined when Strike The Tiger and Jealous Again made their way across the Atlantic in 2009.

His initial forays involved using leading riders from America – the likes of Johnny Velazquez and Joel Rosario – on his horses, but a switch to top domestic riders such as Ryan Moore and Frankie Dettori was the pattern more recently until this year, when Irad Ortiz became the man.

While it would be grossly unfair to blame Ward's lacklustre week purely on Ortiz, the rider's inexperience of British racing has not assisted the horses he has been riding, be that the stalls incident and subsequent rush with Golden Pal, the interference in the Queen Mary, or perhaps a struggle in judging the right pace to blitz down the Ascot straight.

Ortiz's presence added some extra international pizazz to the fixture no doubt, but the words of US-based Graham Motion following Spendarella's excellent second to Inspiral in the Coronation Stakes under William Buick perhaps summed things up best.

Spendarella (right) had the assistance of William Buick to finish second in the Coronation StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker

"I thought familiarity with the track was so important here," he said. "William's local knowledge is a huge asset and that's a big advantage around here to me."

Ortiz's experience at Royal Ascot will make him a better jockey, but it would be no surprise to see Ward revert to a local rider next year.

Money doesn't always talk . . .

By Jack Haynes, reporter

It is as competitive as it gets for owners heading to the royal meeting but big-money buys are not a necessity for success.

Impressive Coventry Stakes scorer Bradsell kicked off the theme, with the £47,000 breeze-up buy edging out €225,000 yearling purchase Persian Force, and Hampton Court winner Claymore similarly proved there are breeze-up bargains.

He was bought for £10,000 by original owner Mutlaq Menahi Almutairi before changing ownership to Mary Slack after his debut Newmarket win last October.

Jewels were also found in mixed or horses-in-training sales – a sign of a trainer and bloodstock agent doing A* homework. Copper Horse winner Get Shirty was a €30,000 buy at Arqana for Jason Kelly and David O'Meara last summer and has scooped upwards of £80,000 in prize-money this year.

Get Shirty: one of many bargain Royal Ascot winnersCredit: Alex Livesey (Getty Images)

Hurworth Bloodstock and George Boughey did excellent business with Inver Park, a £35,000 acquisition in December who landed the £51,000 first prize of the Buckingham Palace Stakes. There are bargains out there and that offers encouragement at all levels.

Moore, Moore, Moore

By James Burn, Lambourn correspondent

Ryan Moore probably isn't one for milestones, at least publicly, so it is understandable if his 70th victory at the royal meeting did not make as much chat as it might have done had a certain charismatic Italian been on board.

Moore probably prefers it that way, although that is not to say his talents and ability in the saddle this week should be ignored.

The Coolmore man is a lot closer to 40 than 30, so might not necessarily be at the peak of his powers but that would be hard to tell watching replays of his win on Kyprios in the Gold Cup, while he lacked little for strength when lifting home well-backed pair Little Big Bear and Changingoftheguard in the Windsor Castle and the King Edward VII Stakes.

Ryan Moore was crowned leading jockey at Royal Ascot for the ninth timeCredit: Mark Cranham

He also conjured fine runs out of Tenebrism and Cadamosto and put right any wrongs from earlier in the season on Britannia winner Thesis, which was classic Moore, as were the masterful efforts on Broome and Rohaan on Saturday.

The headlines – bad and then good after Inspiral – might have been hogged by Frankie Dettori, but if there's something worth talking about, it's probably Moore once again demonstrating why many still regard him as the finest rider in the world, even if some might have started to question that status recently.

Dettori down, but not out

By Jonathan Harding, reporter

Nobody has made Royal Ascot their own quite like Frankie Dettori but until Friday it was a week to forget for the charismatic jockey.

Dettori struggled to remove the hood from Lord North in the Prince of Wales's Stakes before being publicly lambasted by connections for his ride on Stradivarius, who stayed on for third in the Gold Cup.

Things then went from bad to worse. Dettori was narrowly denied in the Britannia aboard the Queen's Saga, who joint-trainer John Gosden felt ought to have won, and lost on favourite Reach For The Moon.

Frankie Dettori finished second aboard odds-on shot Reach For The Moon (right)Credit: Alex Livesey (Getty Images)

It can be a fickle game and some people seemed intent on writing the jockey off before he bounced back in style with an excellent ride aboard Inspiral, who impressed when landing the Coronation Stakes.

He will always be under intense scrutiny but needless to say it is not yet time to start buying balloons for his retirement party – form is temporary and Dettori still remains the man for the big occasions.

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