'I wasn't fully in control' - Jamie Spencer's freegoing tactics pay off as Royal Scotsman runs riot in Diomed

It was the little movements Royal Scotsman was making descending Tattenham Corner that gave jockey Jamie Spencer the confidence things were going better than it might have seemed.

The Gleneagles colt, who showed high-class form as a two-year-old and at the start of his three-year-old campaign before his season was cut short last summer, had surged into the lead from the stalls and was well clear of his rivals in the Group 3 Diomed Stakes, not necessarily looking that under control.

“You can tell a lot by their ears,” Spencer said. “I saw coming down to Tattenham Corner that he was pricking his inside ear and that was showing me he had plenty to offer.

“He’s always been an aggressive horse, but we tried to settle him down and it didn’t really work. We decided to let him go, set his own pace and then he would settle in front. 

"I wasn’t fully in control – if there was a grand on the ground I wouldn’t have been able to reach down and grab it – but I could tell he was relaxing.”

The decision to go forward came after numerous conversations between Spencer and Ollie Cole, the joint-trainer of Royal Scotsman with his father Paul. Spencer estimated the two of them had spoken for the best part of an hour and a half, and Ollie reassured it was good-mannered.

“In the Lockinge he cocked his jaw when he came out [of the stalls],” Ollie Cole said. “I spoke with Jamie three times this week, and it was respectful as I'm not a jockey, but I said if he could, he should hold on to the neck strap leaving the stalls as when you take up the bit then he cocks his jaw and runs. 

“We’ve always thought a lot of this horse. He had a couple of disappointing runs after the Guineas last year when he had bone bruising. 

"The plan was always to go forward and let him relax in front and we couldn’t be more happy with how it went.”

Breege prevails in close finish

Breege has been on the wrong end of more than her fair share of tight finishes, but she finally scored at Group level in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes. 

The four-year-old won her maiden in May 2022, but was winless in her next 11 starts, including when beaten a head on her first run this season.

The winning distance was a neck this time, but Breege came out on the right side of it when narrowly denying Chic Colombine.

"She ran really well on her comeback run at Goodwood," said joint-trainer John Quinn. "People question whether she wants to win, but we felt she was unlucky. Today she toughed it out and battled well. As long as she's okay she'll run in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot."

Jason Hart riding Breege (green with purple hat) wins the Princess Elizabeth StakesCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Winning jockey Jason Hart added: "It's hard to believe she'd only won a maiden. She has some high-class form and always threatened to win a big one. Hopefully that can be the springboard for her to have a great year. She's come out on the wrong side of a lot of photo-finishes, but was on the right side today."

Breege had been knocking on the door at Group level and was seventh behind Tahiyra in the Irish 1,000 Guineas last year. She was cut to 12-1 (from 20s) for the Duke of Cambridge in a market headed by the John and Thady Gosden-trained Laurel. 

Dream Dash result

As a former jump jockey who completed the course in the Grand National and a trainer who spent much of his career predominantly conditioning jumpers, the Aston Martin Dash must have felt as alien a race as there could be for James Evans. And yet on Saturday he and members of the enthusiastic Peter Clarke Racing Partners ownership group crowded round Dream Composer in the winner’s enclosure, dressed in top hats and tails, after the six-year-old had surged late to score under apprentice Joe Leavy.

“He keeps stepping up and obviously this is the icing on the cake, winning one like this,” Evans said. 

“I got a phone call from these owners about four years ago and we had a few horses for them that we did okay with. They sent us to the sales and we bought a few, and three of them have won 25 races between them. It just clicked. They are a great bunch, and we’ll enjoy today and see where it takes us.” 

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