Ribchester, the son of Iffraaj who is the best in Europe this season, landed his third G1 when breaking the track record in the Queen Anne Stakes. The opening race of the Royal Ascot festival, which is run over the straight mile, is always a high-class race and this years was no different with 15 rivals taking him on. There was a furious early gallop from the start with two pacemakers taking each other on, but Ribchester was always going smoothly from his potentially tricky stall one draw and when asked a couple of furlongs from home, he quickened like the top-class horse he is to win by a length-and-a-quarter. He stopped the clock in 1:36.6 which knocked a staggering near half-a-second off the track record.
Bred by Andrew Thompson and Mike O’Brien, Ribchester is a son of the Marju mare Mujarah, who is a granddaughter of the Classic winner Mehthaaf. Mujarah also has a yearling filly by Raven’s Pass, a colt foal by Dubawi and is back in foal to the same sire again this season.
Iffraaj is enjoying another stellar 2017 and only Galileo and Snitzel have sired more G1 wins in the world this year. Apart from Europe’s best in Ribchester, he has the best middle-distance performer in Australia in Gingernuts, winner of the Rosehill Guineas and New Zealand Derby, and Jon Snow, the winner of the Australian Derby at Randwick at the start of April. He is standing this coming season at Haunui Stud in New Zealand at a fee of NZ$25,000.
