Star man Ryan Moore rounds off superb week with sixth winner on JP McManus's Dawn Rising

Ryan Moore celebrated being crowned Royal Ascot’s leading rider for the tenth time by claiming the marathon contest that ends the meeting for a fifth time aboard Dawn Rising.

Trained by Joseph O'Brien, Dawn Rising became the only winning favourite on the final day with a half-length success from The Grand Visir. Stratum, bidding for a hat-trick in the 2m5½f finale, could manage only seventh under William Buick.

Moore had not ridden the 2-1 favourite since finishing second on him in a Newmarket Group 3 in July 2020 when trained by Aidan O’Brien. Dawn Rising was subsequently gelded, sold to JP McManus and switched to the care of O’Brien’s son to go jumping.

Dawn Rising has performed with credit in that sphere, winning a Grade 3 over hurdles at Navan in November before finishing third in the Grade 1 Lawlor's of Naas and running at the Cheltenham Festival in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.

Having been a promising third in the Saval Beg at Leopardstown last month on his return to the Flat, the six-year-old built on that effort to give Moore his sixth success of the week. 

"Joseph had him prepared beautifully for today,” said the winning rider. “He won a Graded race over hurdles in the winter and had a nice run at Leopardstown. He put himself in a nice spot.”

The Grand Visir, backing up quickly after finishing eighth in Tuesday’s Ascot Stakes, threatened to spoil Moore’s perfect end to the meeting when staying on powerfully under Richard Kingscote. However, just as he had to when beaten a neck by Who Dares Wins in this race in 2020, the Ian Williams-trained nine-year-old had to settle for a close second.

Moore, who also rode Okita Soushi to victory for O'Brien jnr in the Duke of Edinburgh on Friday, added: “I hadn’t really asked him for everything and he was always finding plenty. Joseph’s horses aren’t going to stop."

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