Arizona crossed the line first in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot to give Aidan O’Brien a ninth win in the race. Ridden by Ryan Moore, the 15/8 favourite did not get off to a great start as he was being handled fairly vigorously.
However, towards the end of the race he showed the form that secured an eight-length win at Curragh last month, eating up the ground in the final furlong. Richard Hannon’s Threat and Archie Watson’s Guildsman were in hot pursuit but had no answer for Arizona, and O’Brien was thrilled with the two-year-old’s performance.
“He was very green the first day and progressed a lot the next time and won very easily, but he probably didn’t learn a lot because of that,” he said. “This was the first day he had to learn. He was a little bit slowly away, a little bit lost through the race, but came home really well, so I’m delighted.
“He has loads of speed as he wouldn’t be able to do what he did, but we always thought he’d have no problem getting seven furlongs and when they do that, normally they’ll have no problem getting a mile next year. “He could sharpen up a lot from that but seven furlongs should be very comfortable to him. He’s a fine big horse and you’d look forward to him next year.”
