Illinois signed off Royal Ascot with a hard-earned Queen Alexandra Stakes victory, but Ryan Moore will have to wait another year to reach one of the meeting’s great modern milestones.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained stayer, sent off the 7/4 favourite, held on by a neck from French Master in the traditional closing race of the Royal meeting on Saturday evening. It was a fittingly tense finish to a week that had already carried Ballydoyle into rare territory.
For Moore, it was a seventh winner of the week and the ride that confirmed another leading jockey title. It also left him on 99 Royal Ascot winners, one short of the century that will now become one of the major subplots when the meeting returns next summer.
Illinois Shows His Stamina Again
Illinois had already shown high-class staying ability at Ascot, having won the Queen’s Vase as a three-year-old and later chased home Trawlerman in last year’s Gold Cup. This time, dropped into the marathon conditions race over two miles, five furlongs and 143 yards, he had to fight all the way to the line.
The official Racing Post result recorded a 13-runner field, with Illinois beating French Master and Mr Hollywood in a winning time of 4m 45.57s. At The Races described the performance as a determined success for O’Brien’s classy stayer.
It also gave the race a different shape from the build-up, when Willie Mullins sent Le Destrier into the Ascot finale with a major chance of extending his own excellent recent record in the race.
Moore And O’Brien End On Top
The result rounded off another formidable Royal Ascot for Moore, O’Brien and Coolmore. Thoroughbred Daily News reported that Coolmore claimed the leading owner award, O’Brien secured a 14th leading trainer title, and Moore took the leading rider prize for a 13th time.
O’Brien’s week had already been shaped by history after Scandinavia gave him his 100th Royal Ascot winner in the Gold Cup, a landmark covered in depth when Aidan O’Brien reached the Royal Ascot century on Thursday.
Illinois did not produce the most spectacular performance of the meeting, but his success mattered because of the weight of context around it. A proven Ascot stayer, a champion jockey counting down to 100, and a trainer closing another dominant week all met in the final half-furlong of the final race.
A Closing Win With A Longer Echo
The Queen Alexandra is often treated as the last act after the Group-race headlines have been written, but this one carried a sharper edge. French Master made Illinois earn it, Moore had to keep asking, and the favourite found enough when the winning post arrived.
It followed a closing card already led by Almeraq’s dramatic sprint success, with Royal Ascot’s final-day thriller giving the meeting a proper Group 1 centrepiece before the stayers took over.
For Illinois, the win restored him as more than a useful support act in a powerful Ballydoyle team. For Moore, it was winner 99 at a meeting he has helped define. Royal Ascot 2026 ended with one final victory, and one very obvious number still hanging in the air.
