Royal Ascot 2018: Poet’s Word beats Cracksman in Prince Of Wales’s shock
Sir Michael Stoute's colt lowers the colours of 2-5 favourite Cracksman in £750,000 Group 1
CRACKSMAN'S expected coronation at Royal Ascot turned into a nightmare for Frankie Dettori and John Gosden as Poet's Word won the Prince Of Wales's Stakes.
The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt swooped from off the pace to win impressively as the 2-5 favourite Cracksman was a well-beaten second.
In winning the race, Stoute also became the most successful trainer in the history of Royal Ascot with his 76th winner, surpassing the late Henry Cecil.
The writing was on the wall from an early stage for Cracksman, as Dettori was niggling away from the off.
He still held every chance and briefly led approaching the final furlong, but James Doyle always looked confident and produced Poet's Word with a smooth run.
The five-year-old soon left Cracksman in his wake to win by two and a quarter lengths, with a break of eight lengths back to Hawkbill in third place.
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Stoute said: "It's a relief because we were stuck on it (75 winners) last year.
"It (Royal Ascot) is special to every trainer.
"We've been very lucky to have a lot of nice horses over the years.
"Maybe Cracksman isn't at his best now, but we beat the others comprehensively. He's a very consistent, brave horse."
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Gosden said that Cracksman, who struggled to win the Coronation Cup earlier this month, was beaten fair and square.
He said: "I make no excuses whatsoever. The other horse on the day had him covered from two out.
"To my mind he is just playing around a bit. He did it at Epsom, but he didn't do it first time out at Longchamp.
"At no stage was he travelling or carrying Frankie (Dettori)."
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