Royal Ascot Wednesday review and free replays:

Rest assured as Shane sinks Bay Bridge

State Of Rest burst the Bay Bridge bubble by landing the Royal meeting's richest prize, the £1million Prince Of Wales's Stakes, under a superbly-executed ride from Shane Crosse.

Well backed in the minutes before the off, Crosse dictated matters from the front on the 5/1 shot before committing for home off the final turn.

Bay Bridge, who went off the 10/11 favourite chasing a sixth straight victory but first at Group 1 level, emerged from the pack to throw down a challenge a furlong and a half out, but Sir Michael Stoute's Brigadier Gerard hero never looked like reeling him in, even as Ryan Moore got increasingly animated.

State Of Rest was winning his fourth Group 1 in five starts - and fourth in a different country following his wins in last year's Saratoga Derby and Cox Plate, and Longchamp's Prix Ganay last month.

It was also a particularly sweet moment for Crosse, who came under fire for setting Joseph O'Brien's four-year-old too much to do in the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time out.

But he got the fractions spot on here with a ride his world-class rivals Moore, Mickael Barzalona, Cristian Demuro and Frankie Dettori would have been proud of.

Lord North lost any chance of victory at the start as he was still blindfolded when the stalls opened, conceding plenty of ground and although he made up the distance, those early efforts told in the finish.

The stewards inquired into the incident noting Frankie Dettori’s explanation that the blind had got caught in the bridle, resulting in him taking a number of attempts to remove it.

O’Brien told ITV Racing: “It was a brilliant ride from Shane. State Of Rest is a very tough horse. We had a good chat with Shane and decided to make the running. It could not have worked out better.

“I thought Shane gave him a marvellous ride. He got the fractions perfect and he is a top horse.

“It’s very special. It’s been a long time coming (first Royal Ascot win as a trainer). We’ve had a lots of horses run well here, but it’s special to get a winner here and not only a winner, but to win a race like the Prince of Wales’s Stakes is hugely special. We have a great team of owners and a special horse.”

Crosse said: “The plan beforehand in a small field was to uncomplicate things from our draw. Fair play to State Of Rest. He has done it all and I am just over the moon. In the space of the last 12 months, this horse has done a lot. I am over the moon. It is a dream. To get here and participate is a huge thing. To ride a horse like this in top-class races is a dream. You cannot describe it.”

Sir Michael Stoute, trainer of Bay Bridge, who was beaten a length said: “The race didn’t pan out brilliantly for him, but he ran a very big race and we’re absolutely delighted. We haven’t run him on fast ground before, but that didn’t inconvenience him, there was no problem there. Whether we stick at 10 furlongs or go to 12 – no decision for a little while.”

Shahryar came home fourth and jockey Cristian Demuro said: “When I asked (him) to go, he didn’t have the same acceleration as last time.”

David Cleary analysis

The Prince of Wales's Stakes, Royal Ascot's first million-pound race, turned out to be largely about tactics. With no obvious pacemaker in the five-runner field, State of Rest was sent to the front and stayed there. That the early pace was steady was clear from the ease with which Lord North, left eight lengths after the blindfold became stuck, closed up that gap in the first two furlongs.

When Shane Crosse asked State of Rest to quicken for home early in the straight, the others struggled to react; Ryan Moore gave chase on Bay Bridge and halved the gap one furlong out to a length but then could do no more in the last hundred yards.

As well as the tactics, the ground and the grade may have been important. Bay Bridge was running on firmer ground than previously and the scintillating finish that had been there on softish ground in the Brigadier Gerard just wasn't present. By contrast, State of Rest was proven on the surface. And although he had looked a potential Group 1 performer in winning at Sandown, this was still a step up in class, whereas State of Rest had already won three times at the highest level, even if he hadn't suggested he was right out of the top drawer.

Beach too good in Cambridge

Saffron Beach gave weight and a sound beating to her rivals in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes.

Sent off the 5/2 joint-favourite, Jane Chapple-Hyam's charge tracked the leader Novemba to the two furlong marker before quickly settling matters under William Buick.

She took three lengths out of the field in a matter of strides and was never in danger thereafter, being a similar margin clear of 40/1 runner-up Thunder Beauty at the line.

Chapple-Hyam said: “She did it in commanding fashion, he sat there, pulled her out and ‘ping’ off she went. I presume we’ll go for the Rothschild in Deauville, then the Sun Chariot and then the Breeders’ Cup. Why not? We’ll leave it to the owners. You always worry about that 5lb penalty, but it’s been a rule for years and I suppose it’s there for a reason, but you worry – 5lb is 5lb.

“I think it was hard going to Dubai off a winter, and those horses are hardened colts and geldings, which they showed in the blanket finish and we didn’t have a pre-race, a prep race, whereas here, we’d gone to Chelmsford and we’d gone to the July Course and had got the work into her.”

Buick added: “We got a nice lead into it, with steady fractions. She’s got gears and she was very smooth today. It’s great for Jane, all the owners involved. It’s fantastic – it’s Royal Ascot. You have to enjoy these moments.”

Eldarov edges Queen's Vase thriller

Eldar Eldarov claimed a thrilling victory in the Queen's Vase.

The 5/2 favourite looked in trouble when 20/1 chance Zechariah booted a couple of lengths clear passing the two furlong marker.

However along with eventual third Hafit (9/1) he began to make inroads into the deficit.

By the line he had joined the leader - and the photographic evidence showed he'd passed him to get a nose verdict.

Sky Bet cut the winner to 8/1 from 14s for the St Leger. Betfair and Paddy Power go 6/1 from 16s.

Varian said: “I wasn’t sure. I thought we were a good winner before the line and a good winner after the line, but we got the bob wrong, which sometimes can go against you. We’ve got the give the second credit, he ran a great race, we’re all elated and he was on the wrong side of a tight photograph so I feel for the second.

“I’m delighted for this horse and these connections, they’re supporting the industry very strongly, they’re supporting me. Days like this are very special to all of us and to get the horse home in front with a lot of expectation is always satisfying. The Irish Derby came too soon, he didn’t thrive in the spring. We had a chat about him in the winter, he won at Nottingham in a similar style to the Derby winner won at Nottingham – those end of October maidens. Look at the horses that come out of them, Golden Horn, this year’s Derby winner (Desert Crown).

“Who knows what the future holds in terms of trip, but he obviously stays very well. I’m delighted, there’s a lot to come from this horse, I think his best days are ahead of him.”

Zechariah is trained by the father and son team of Martyn and Freddie Meade, who took the narrow reverse on the chin.

“It is always a nod, isn’t it? Can you believe it. One mile six, you think, ‘crikey, you don’t need to lose by that much do you, really?’, but that is racing for you,” said Meade senior. “We thought we’d got it for a minute, but you can’t really tell. We were sort of in the stands and were sort of too far away to really tell. Looking at the photo, it was a difficult one to call, I would have thought.

“A dead-heat would have been a better result. We have been waiting to run him over this sort of distance and he has been building up to it. Of course, the betting didn’t show that, but we really had a lot of faith in him and it could have been well-placed at one stage. Obviously today was a bit of an experiment to make sure our judgement was right that he would get the one mile six, and clearly that has been shown now and so that opens up a lot more opportunities."

Danny's Drama Queen

Danny Tudhope rode his third consecutive Royal winner by following up Tuesday's closing-race double with a scorching success on Dramatised in the opening Queen Mary Stakes.

Karl Burke's unbeaten Showcasing filly, sent off the 5/2 favourite, justified all of the hype which accompanied her Newmarket debut rout by easing to the front at the two-furlong pole and stretching a length and three-quarters clear of Maylandsea.

Fellow northern raider Maria Branwell, winner of Sandown's National Stakes last time, took third, just ahead of American ace Love Reigns, who weakened into fourth having set the early fractions.

Burke said: “She’s shown us that all the way along, physically since Newmarket she’s done nothing but strengthen and improve. I thought she looked in great condition today, she ran like I dared to dream and hope she would. It’s a great result, it’s a great result for Clipper (Logistics), for Steve Parkin and Joe Foley, they’re putting a huge amount into the business and they deserve days like this.

“She lengthens and she keeps going. I’m sure she’ll stay six furlongs, although Danny said to keep her at five furlongs for the moment. There’s still more to come from her. She has physically grown over the last two months and she is a very good filly.”

On plans, the North Yorkshire handler said: “Her work has been excellent – she’s a bit of a diva, so we’ve just had to keep a lid on her, but she handled everything really well.

“She’s the quickest two-year-old I’ve trained over five furlongs, but I’m sure she will stay six. The Lowther and Morny could be options for her and later in the year the Cheveley Park.”

Of the runner-up, trainer Michael Bell said: “It was a very good run and I think the winner is obviously a very good filly. She is very smart. Had we been drawn next to her, we’d obviously have finished a bit closer, but the winner is obviously good. She is a filly that has a massive future. Her temperament is to die for. She is going to be a filly who will bring her owners a lot of fun going forward.

“There are no immediate plans. There is the Empress or the Cherry Hinton (at Newmarket) – we’ll see where the winner rocks up. The winner will have a penalty in the Cherry Hinton, so the Cherry Hinton might be the race.”

David O’Meara said of Maria Branwell: “She has run well, hasn’t she. She did the business at Sandown and she has produced a run there today, so we’re delighted with her. She ran like she might stay six (furlongs), but I would not necessarily be in a rush to go straight to six. The Lowther might be possible target, we’ll have a chat and see.

Shift proves Cup king

Dark Shift provided jockey James McDonald with his second winner of the week at Royal Ascot as he motored to victory in the Royal Hunt Cup.

Having been seen to great effect aboard Australian raider Nature Strip in the King’s Stand on Tuesday, the New Zealand-born rider adopted very different tactics aboard this Charlie Hills-trained grey.

A winner of three of his last four starts, and carrying a 5lb penalty for the most recent of those triumphs at Nottingham last month, 13-2 chance Dark Shot was dropped out towards the rear of the field early on as 29 runners bounded up the straight mile.

After making his move from the halfway stage, Dark Shot edged towards the front racing inside the final two furlongs and finished strongly to beat Intellogent (40-1) by half a length.

“It was always the plan to go for the Victoria Cup. We ran there and got a terrible draw. We needed to them run him again to get into this race,” Hills said.

“We ran him at Nottingham and he won there. It was a bit of a worry if we would get into the race two days ago. Anyway, it’s great. Myself and James McDonald go back a long way. He came to spend the summer with us eight years ago and we have become good family friends and for connections to let him ride the horse means an awful lot. I’m very proud.

“James is so good. Not taking anything away from our boys, we’ve got some great ones in England, but we just seem to get on well. It’s great to have James on our side.”

Bear lands Windsor Castle gamble

Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore got off the mark for Royal Ascot 2022 as Little Big Bear justified his cramped odds in the Windsor Castle Stakes. By their own lofty standards it has been a quiet couple of days for the all-powerful Ballydoyle team, but this son of American sprinter No Nay Never – narrowly beaten on his Curragh debut before bolting up at Naas – was all the rage as the 6-5 market leader.

While he was produced with a big challenge on the far side of the track, it was not entirely plain sailing, with Rocket Rodney and Eddie’s Boy both bang there racing inside the final half-furlong.

Rocket Rodney eventually emerged as the biggest threat, but Little Big Bear refused to bend and won the argument by a neck.

“Delighted with that. We were a little concerned about the wide draw, as he was away by himself and he is still a baby. He battled on well,” said O’Brien. “He just got beat the first time and won well the second time. Ryan rode him work in the week and was happy with him. He should get further in the future, too. We’re delighted with him. He is in the Phoenix Stakes.”

O’Brien earlier saw his son Joseph record his first winner at the meeting when State Of Rest made all to land the feature Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

He added: “It’s an unbelievable day for Joseph to have his winner earlier. He told me what he was going to do before the race and I didn’t think it was the right thing. From experience I learned not to say anything and so delighted I was for them.”

Neil Callan records victory to savour with Rising Star

Neil Callan was able to celebrate a special winner at Royal Ascot courtesy of a 40/1 upset for Rising Star in the Kensington Palace Stakes.

While a third-placed finish behind Highfield Princess on All-Weather Championships Finals Day at Newcastle reads well, Marco Botti’s filly had since been beaten at Ascot and Beverley.

But partnered by Callan – riding his fifth Royal Ascot winner and first since 2013 following a prolonged spell in Hong Kong – Rising Star bounced back with a determined victory over Random Harvest.

“It’s only a handicap, but Royal Ascot is beyond anything else in the universe,” said Callan.

“This week of racing, no matter what race it is, it is a championship race and Rising Star was good today.

“I’ve been away in Hong Kong for 10 years. I was top five, I rode two Group One winners the season I left.

“When you come back, you don’t pick these things back up. You have to work for it and you just hope you get the breaks. You need these opportunities and these sort of days and these winners to put you in the limelight – I’m just so glad it has come now.”

Botti said: “Obviously Rising Star was a big price, but we knew she had the ground.

“The draw was a little bit wide and we thought it was going to be a big ask to overcome the draw. Neil gave her a brilliant ride and I’m delighted for the syndicate of 10 people.”

More from Sporting Life

• Royal Ascot tips
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.