'I'll take a Royal Ascot winner any day' - Wayne Lordan cashes in on O'Brien second string as Age Of Kings strikes

When Aidan O’Brien asks you to partner one of his horses in a big race, whatever their chance may appear to be, you take the ride. 

So with Ryan Moore riding The Antarctic in the Jersey Stakes, there was a space left open for someone to partner the lesser fancied of the O’Brien pair, Age Of Kings. Wayne Lordan took the opportunity, and he came home the winner.

“Aidan likes to throw plenty at it,” said Lordan. “And I'm glad I was on this fella. I'll take a Royal Ascot winner any day.”

Lordan has not had a Royal Ascot winner since Slade Power in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes, as it was known then, in 2014. He probably didn’t expect to be ending that losing run when getting the leg up to ride the 22-1 shot Age Of Kings, who had beaten only one home on his seasonal reappearance in the Irish 2,000 Guineas.

But this has been a year when much of Royal Ascot has been turned on its head, when horses with big prices or unusual profiles have come to the fore while others with more apparent chances have failed to come home in front.

Wayne Lordan is led back on Age Of KingsCredit: Mark Cranham

“This horse tries really hard,” Lordan said. “He’ll always give his best and I made sure I saved a little bit for the end – you have to always make sure you save yourself a little bit. He had good runs last year, then had a bit of a setback and his first run back this year was in the Irish Guineas and he obviously improved for it. At two he had a few runs and maybe got a bit weak, but he's come back and he's stepped forward nicely, even in his work.”

O’Brien had also been buoyed by the work Age Of Kings had been putting in with The Antarctic and felt there had been an overreaction to his Classic run.

“He didn’t run for a long time before the Irish Guineas and everyone has overlooked him today because of it,” O’Brien said. “He didn’t run badly that day and he hadn’t run for a long time, so we knew he’d be better, and he had good form from last year.

“He was working with The Antarctic and he was always working a length or two off him which would be very good work. We weren’t sure about the trip for The Antarctic but we knew this horse was always going to like it, and I thought Wayne gave him a lovely uncomplicated ride.”

Age Of Kings was a fourth winner of what has been an up-and-down week for O’Brien, with the likes of Paddington and River Tiber justifying favouritism in their races while others, such as Little Big Bear and Luxembourg, have been beaten.

“We’ve had a lot of placed horses as well as days like this and the reality is that it’s hard to have a winner here so if you have one that’s very good,” he said.

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