Almeraq gave Royal Ascot the finish it deserved, cutting down Satono Reve in a desperate Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes photo as the meeting closed with one of its sharpest Group 1 moments of the week.
William Haggas’s colt, ridden by Tom Marquand, arrived late in the six-furlong feature to deny Japan a first Royal Ascot winner and leave Satono Reve runner-up in the race for the second year running. Joliestar, who had carried such a strong international profile into the sprint, was right in the argument before the line came just too late for her challenge.
Almeraq Strikes In The Final Group 1
The confirmed Royal Ascot results showed how tight the afternoon became, but the Jubilee was the race that gave the final day its headline. Almeraq had to bridge a serious class gap, and he did it in the kind of finish that makes the straight course feel longer with every stride.
There was no hiding the international flavour of the race. Satono Reve looked poised to land Japan’s breakthrough, Joliestar carried the Australian threat deep into the final furlong, and Almeraq had to produce one clean, sustained run to get there. That late surge turned a strong sprint into the defining result of the day.
ReadHorseRacing had looked at the shape of the sprint beforehand, when Joliestar headed the final Royal Ascot sprint showdown, but the prize ultimately stayed with Haggas and Marquand.
Giavellotto And Double Rush Add To The Drama
The Hardwicke Stakes brought its own twist. Giavellotto and Oisin Murphy got the better of Kalpana and Goliath, with Christophe Soumillon losing his irons on Goliath in the closing stages. It was a messy, memorable finish to a race that had already looked one of the deeper staying contests of the week.
Kalpana had been a major part of the build-up, with Andrew Balding’s mare taking centre stage in the Hardwicke Stakes picture, but Giavellotto found the decisive answer when the race became a scrap late on.
There was another strong Balding note in the Wokingham, where Double Rush and Shane Foley landed the big sprint handicap. The race can often feel like controlled chaos, but Double Rush came through it with enough authority to make his mark on a card already rich with close finishes.
Moore And O’Brien Close The Meeting
The curtain came down with Illinois winning the Queen Alexandra Stakes for Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien. Moore ended the meeting as leading jockey, while O’Brien secured the leading trainer title again, holding off a strong challenge from Joseph O’Brien across the week.
It also gave another line of context to the Ballydoyle story, two days after Aidan O’Brien reached 100 Royal Ascot winners through Scandinavia in the Gold Cup. The final afternoon was not simply about one dramatic photo; it was about the old powers still shaping the meeting while new storylines forced their way in.
Royal Ascot closed with Almeraq’s nose verdict, Giavellotto’s grit, Double Rush’s handicap strike and Illinois bringing Moore and O’Brien home. After five days, the final card still found a way to leave one last roar hanging over the straight.
