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Ascot, England: It was Ladies Day at Royal Ascot yesterday, but the irrefutable scene-stealer was Irish-trained Yeats who joined the pantheon of great champions when he became only the second horse in history to complete a hat-trick of wins in the prestigious Gold Cup (Group 1) at Royal Ascot yesterday.
Bred in Ireland in 1971, but trained in France, Sagaro was the first horse to win the two and a half mile contest, one of the toughest tests of a horse's stamina, when he won in successive years between 1975-77.
Yeats yesterday reproduced the feat in glorious fashion, galloping across the line like a true champion to record a five length victory over the Jamie Osborne-trained Geordie-land, while French raider Costal Plan, ridden by Stephane Pasquier for trainer Andre Fabre, was third.
"He has the heart of a lion, I knew he'll kill them," said Johnny Murtagh, who was winning the Gold Cup for the fourth time."
Unbelievable
"He's just got that extra bit of class to come back here and win a third Gold Cup. I'm just honoured to be involved with such a great horse and such a great team."
An elated O'Brien, who has now notched four Group One wins at this year's Royal Meeting said: "It's unbelievable and I didn't really think it would happen.
"He's a great mover with massive lungs and he has a massive heart. This is a massive team effort and I'm privileged to be part of it. The lads (at home) did a great job to get him here for one Gold Cup and then he came back for a second one and now a third one - it's unbelievable. It's down to a lot of hard work from a lot of people and Johnny gave him a wonderful ride."
Yeats is also the only seven-year-old to have won this race since 1950. Early in the race Murtagh sat off the early pace set by Le Miracle, before he took Yeats to the front with around half a mile to run still to run.
Pasquier and Coastal gave chase as did Sean Kelly aboard Jamie Osborne's Geordieland who was travelling strongly in third. But Yeats was yet to get down to business. Once the field straightened for home he found a new set of gears and powered on to post an authoritative win.
Thundering Star, trained by Mike de Kock in South Africa, was fifth while Godolphin's Sagara (Frankie Dettori) and Regal Flush (Kerrin McEvoy) finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Earlier in the afternoon the John Gosden-trained Michita, a 10/3 favourite, won the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes, while another favourite, Howard Johnson's South Central romped to victory in the Norfolk Stakes, also a Group 2 event.
Results
Gold Cup (Group 1) 2miles 2 furlongs: 1. Yeats 11/8 Fav (trained by A O'Brien) ridden by J Murtagh; 2. Geordieland 15/2 (J Osborne) s Kelly; 3. Costal Plan 2/1 (A Fabre) s Pasquier.
Distances: 5lengths, 4 1/2, 1 3/4. Time: 4min 21secs.
Ribblesdale Stakes (Gr 2) 1m 4f: 1. Michita 10/3 Fav (J Gosden) J Fortune; 2. Arthur'sGirl 7/1 (G Wragg) S Drowne; 3. Hobby 11/1 (R Beckett) S Sanders
Distances: 3 1/2 lengths, 2 1/2, 3/4. TimeL 2min 31secs.
Norfolk Stakes (Gr 2) 5f: 1. South central 11/4 Fav (H Johnson) R Winston; 2. Spin Cycle 7/1 (B Smart) T Durcan; 3. Prolific 6/1 (R Hannon) R Hughes.
Distances: Head, 1 length, head. Time: 1min 01.83secs.
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