How a mare swap between Qatar Racing and the Queen led to royal winner Tactical

It was hats off as the royal silks were carried to victory by Tactical in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot on Wednesday.

The colt, trained by Andrew Balding for the Queen, was sent off a strongly supported 7-2 favourite for the 18-runner contest after catching the eye when a somewhat unlucky third in a hot Newmarket novice stakes on debut this month.

View full result and watch race replay

Tactical finished strongly along the stands side rail to defeat Yazaman, a son of two-year-old sire extraordinaire Kodiac, by one and a quarter lengths, with Muker, representing Kodiac's first-season sire studmate Mehmas, in third.

Tactical hails from the third crop of Toronado and becomes the son of High Chaparral's sixth stakes winner and a first Royal Ascot scorer.

Toronado won the Champagne Stakes for Richard Hannon snr at two and had a fierce rivalry with Dawn Approach at three, finishing behind Jim Bolger's colt in the 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes but getting the better of him in the Sussex Stakes.

He came back at four, now officially trained by Richard Hannon jnr, to land the Queen Anne Stakes and run second in the Sussex Stakes and Prix du Moulin.

Toronado stood at the National Stud in Newmarket on behalf of owners Al Shaqab Racing for his first three years in retirement, but has been based at the Qatari operation's headquarters of Haras de Bouquetot since 2018.

His previous best offspring are the continental Listed winners Alwaab, Stone Tornado, Taos and Wasmya.

He is hot property in Australia, where he shuttles to Swettenham Stud in Victoria, having supplied numerous winners from his first two crops including many who have found favour in the lucrative Hong Kong export market.

Tactical is the first foal out of the Queen's mare Make Fast, a daughter of Makfi who was sent out by Balding to win a Ffos Las maiden on her two-year-old debut and to later run second in two Listed races – the Radley Stakes at two and Surrey Stakes at three.

She is one of two winners out of Oh So Sharp Stakes winner Raymi Coya, who was the subject of a mare swap between Qatar Racing and the Royal Studs when Make Fast was in-utero.

Raymi Coya, by Van Nistelrooy and out of a daughter of Spinster Stakes winner Try Something New, has experienced fluctuating fortunes in the sale-ring.

She was originally a 16,000gns Tattersalls Craven breeze-up purchase by Blandford Bloodstock and was a vendor buyback at just 100,000gns at the end of her three-year-old season, even with Group 3 honours to her name – although that was at the height of the worldwide recession.

Raymi Coya was in more demand when presented back at Tattersalls as a six-year-old in 2011 and was bought by David Redvers on behalf of Qatar Racing for 230,000gns, two years before she entered the Queen's ownership.

However, she was culled from the Royal Studs broodmare band and resold to David Tucker for only €9,000 at the Arqana December Breeding-Stock Sale in 2018.

Raymi Coya has a two-year-old colt by Toronado owned by the Queen and named Sun Festival, while Tucker owns the mare's yearling filly by the Queen's Acomb Stakes winner Recorder.

Make Fast, who is making into an outstanding conduit for her parents' class, has a yearling colt by Iffraaj and a filly foal by Recorder.

Make Fast's sire Makfi, who formerly stood under the Qatar Racing banner at Tweenhills but was sold to Japan in 2016, is emerging as an interesting broodmare sire with other early daughters having produced Pattern winners Fearless King and Positive plus promising three-year-olds Brunch and Regneville.

If you enjoyed reading this, you might also like...

Stallion prospects in short supply as Lord North lands Prince of Wales's Stakes

Breeders' Cup hero and Northern Ireland's only stallion Conduit dies aged 15

Pyledriver defies humble origins to beat the bluebloods at Royal Ascot