David O’Meara sent out the 1,000th winner of his training career on Tuesday when Sudona landed the 1m2f handicap at Pontefract.
The mare, owned and bred by Lady Cobham, took the lead a furlong from home and found plenty under jockey Daniel Tudhope to hold off the challenge of Zlatan to win by a length.
O’Meara said: “It’s great we did it with a horse ridden by Danny, who came to me in 2011. He’s ridden all the big ones.
“And I know it’s a cliché but through it all there’s been a team behind me – I can’t ride out 130 horses by myself and there is a huge team behind me, they make it all happen.”
Royal Ascot At Home raises £400,000
Royal Ascot’s #StyledWithThanks programme helped generate £166,000 towards an overall total of £400,000, which was raised to help a number of frontline charities during the coronavirus pandemic.
The #StyledWithThanks campaign saw people around the world dress up in elegant outfits and share their photos on social media. Prizes were awarded to the most elegant, most uplifting and most original entries, judged by a panel of fashion industry experts.
In partnership with the British Hat Guild, an online auction of rainbow-themed hats raised £24,000 while Frankie Dettori’s commemorative 70th Royal Ascot winner saddlecloth contributed £30,000 to the overall total.
Funds were also raised through the sales of the 2020 Ascot jockey bears along with donations from all Royal Ascot afternoon teas sold and from the new Ascot Wine Club.
The charities benefitting from the fundraising are The National Emergencies Trust Relief Fund, NHS Charities Together, The Care Workers Charity and the Berkshire Community Foundation Coronavirus Fund.
Nick Smith, Director of Racing and Public Affairs at Ascot, said: “We are delighted with the response of the public and the racing, betting and fashion industries to all the charitable initiatives that took place during and around Royal Ascot.
“The rainbow montage tribute of photos sent in as part of our #StyledWithThanks campaign will be a permanent reminder of the year when all elements of what makes Royal Ascot so special came together to support a range of national and local charities.”
Today’s racing
Darain, the three-year-old brother to champion two-year-old Too Darn Hot, will make his debut for owner Qatar Racing and trainer John Gosden at Newbury this evening.
The colt topped the 2018 edition of the Book 1 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale when bought by David Redvers for 3,500,000gns and will line-up in the second division of the 1m2f novice contest at 7:40pm.
Darain’s opposition includes the William Haggas-trained Divine Consent, a homebred for Anthony Oppenheimer who is a half-brother to Zebedee, and Godolphin debutant Brilliant Light.
Flat racing also comes from Ripon and Gowran Park (Ireland) today while there are jumps fixtures from Stratford and Bellewstown (Ireland).
