Love makes it four wins in a row with victory in Group One Prince of Wales's Stakes on day two at Royal Ascot; Ryan Moore holds off five rivals from the front; watch every race at Royal Ascot live on Sky Sports Racing
Thursday 17 June 2021 06:15, UK
Love was victorious in an epic renewal of the Prince Of Wales's Stakes under a brave, front-running ride from Ryan Moore.
The dual Classic winner from last year was making her seasonal reappearance and did it the hard way, holding off her five rivals to prevail for Aidan O'Brien as the 11-10 favourite.
James Fanshawe's Audarya - also running for the first time this year having last been seen winning at the Breeders' Cup - threw everything at the market leader, but ultimately had to settle for second by three-quarters of a length.
Armory, stablemate of the winner, was not far away in third.
"It was her first run of the year so we had to be very cautious with her," O'Brien said.
"Ryan gave her a beautiful ride, she'll come on a lot from the run, we'd obviously have preferred to have had a run [before].
"First time over a mile and a quarter and we were over the moon with her.
"She's very genuine, very brave.
"We knew that her head was out and down and looking at Ryan's body language, he hadn't gone for everything, he was trying to let her win and give her as easy a time as he could.
"I'm delighted that the lads decided to do this and wait until the ground came right, that was a lovely place to start, in Royal Ascot, there's nowhere better."
Moore added: "First run since last August and she beat a Breeders' Cup winner.
"I'm sure she'll improve, but I'm delighted with her today.
"I'm sure she'll come on for the run, she's a very honest filly with a lot of ability, hopefully she'll come on for it as the year goes on."
Love was O'Brien's 75th Royal Ascot winner, putting him level with the great Sir Henry Cecil.
He was characteristically humble about the achievement, with a filly who has already reached great heights and has potential for much more.
"We feel very privileged to be in that position - we're a small part of a big team, and very grateful to everybody for everything," he said.
As for Love's possible future status as one of Ballydoyle's all-time best, he said: "I think she could [be].
"She's fresh now - and probably to her advantage, she hasn't had the miles in that bad ground early on in the year, which can often affect them late.
"So she's probably had an ideal preparation into the summer and autumn - she's very versatile and genuine. Anything is possible with her now."
