ASCOT // Something has got to give. Solow and Able Friend put their flawless recent records on the line in the Queen Anne Stakes this afternoon in what is a fizzing opening race of 30 across the next five days at Royal Ascot.
Both are five-year-old geldings and both have won their past six races.
The world’s two outstanding turf milers clash in the first of eight Group 1 races here this week that also features Godolphin’s Night Of Thunder.
Woven into the fabric of the race is that the trainers of the two principal horses are lifelong friends, separated by geography but eternally intertwined by their love of the thoroughbred.
Freddy Head, Solow’s trainer, and John Moore, Able Friend’s trainer, are linked by Moore’s father, George, who rode for Head’s father, Alec.
George Moore rode Alec Head’s Saint Crespin to victory in the 1959 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and beat Freddy Head in the 1967 English 2,000 Guineas when Royal Palace edged out Taj Dewan.
RELATED:
> Royal Ascot scene will be like no other this time around
> Bruised foot may keep California Chrome out of Royal Ascot run
Friendship will not be a consideration ahead of the £375,000 (Dh2.1 million) event, but what will be under heavy scrutiny is the potential weaknesses that lurk below the brilliance of both challengers.
Before Solow’s victory under Tuesday’s rider Maxime Guyon in the Prix d’Ispahan three weeks ago, Head was concerned his grey son of 1997 Dubai World Cup winner Singspiel had yet to be really tested.
Solow is so good that Head has no horses at his Chantilly base that can live with him on the gallops.
When Solow won the Dubai Turf at Meydan in March, chief rival The Grey Gatsby sweated beforehand, proved difficult to load into the stalls and clearly did not run his race.
In the Prix d’Ispahan, Cirrus Des Aigles did not run his race, either, as the globe-trotting gelding was eased up by Christophe Soumillon after he snapped a shoe.
Those are the only two Group 1 victories on Solow’s CV, which remains a nagging doubt for his trainer.
Solow has proved that he can travel, which is not something that can be said with confidence about Able Friend.
Dubbed as the “Beast From The East”, Able Friend is the world’s highest-rated miler and rated joint-second only to Triple Crown hero American Pharoah.
Moore frequently talks a good game with his horses and, whatever veneer he has applied in the build-up, there is no hiding that this will be the stiffest challenge of Able Friend’s illustrious career.
Hong Kong’s superstar has raced exclusively at Sha Tin, where he has 12 wins from 18 starts. He has not so much as got in a lorry to go to Happy Valley.
Yet he has flown across continents to be housed at Michael Bell’s stables in Newmarket and faces a 160-kilometre journey this morning to get to the racecourse.
Here, he will face an uphill straight mile (1608 metres) on watered turf against rivals who will test his stamina, whereas at Sha Tin he has raced on good-to-firm going around a sweeping flat bend.
Hong Kong has never had a horse officially rated as highly as Able Friend and he would have to perform below his best to record his first defeat over a mile since 2014 Godolphin Mile winner Variety Club beat him in that season’s Champions Mile on soft ground.
His cause is bolstered by Brazilian superstar jockey Joao Moreira, who seemingly can ride anywhere.
If Able Friend does fluff his lines and Solow’s form has flattered to deceive, then Richard Hannon’s Night Of Thunder is almost certain to run his race.
The Godolphin acquisition was undercooked last month on his seasonal bow, when he won the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.
That race has provided 19 of the past 34 winners of the Queen Anne and, with four-year-old horses having prevailed in 19 of the past 23 occasions, Godolphin could get the meeting off to a flyer were James Doyle to secure their first Group 1 win here since Saeed bin Suroor saddled Colour Vision to win the 2012 Gold Cup.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @NatSportUAE