Jealous Again conquers Europe

Wesley Ward electrified Royal Ascot on Wednesday as his juvenile filly Jealous Again led throughout in a scintillating display of speed to win the Group 2, $147,000 Queen Mary Stakes by five handy lengths. Her astounding performance in what some British observers had called the best Queen Mary in the last 10 years came just a day after Ward had made history by saddling the first American-trained horse to win a race at Ascot in Strike the Tiger.

But Strike the Tiger's victory merely came in the listed Windsor Castle Stakes, while Jealous Again will likely be rated the leading juvenile filly in Europe after her Queen Mary heroics. John Velazquez busted Jealous Again, a daughter of Northern Afleet, out of the gate like a rocket and never looked back as Misheer, Creedwell, and Capercaillie floundered in her wake.

Bet down from 16-1 to 13-2 in light of Strike the Tiger's historic performance on Tuesday, Jealous Again covered the straight five furlongs on good to firm ground in 1:00.53, just 0.76 of a second off the Ascot track record for 2-year-olds.

"She ran brilliantly," an exhilarated Ward told the Racing Post. "In America we train for speed, and the reason I came over here was I thought the others in these 2-year-old races are trained to go on for next year."

"It was pretty easy," Velazquez chimed in. "When the doors opened I yelled at her to make sure she got out."

And get out she certainly did. Moreover, in winning she gave a boost to the chances of Aegean, her Ward-trained stablemate who goes in Friday's Group 3 Albany Stakes.

Jealous Again's performance overshadowed the victory earlier in the day of Vision d'Etat in the Group 1, $738,000 Prince of Wales's Stakes. Shuffled back to last of eight at the top of the 2 1/2-furlong stretch, the Eric Libaud-trained French invader Vision d'Etat looked trapped behind a wall of horses, but Olivier Peslier waited patiently for room, and when it came, he sprung.

The 4-1 Vision d'Etat, a 4-year-old son of Grand Prix de Paris winner Chichicastenango, sprinted home to defeat the 3-2 Tartan Bearer by a half-length with another French trainee, Never on Sunday, a head farther behind in third.

The winner of the French Derby last June and the Prix Ganay earlier this season, Vision d'Etat was winning his third Group 1 race. He covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:06.90. Libaud will give him a rest until Sept. 13 when he will use the Prix Foy as a prep for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in which he finished fifth last year.

Cheveley Park Stud scored with a one-two punch in the Group 2, $205,000 Windsor Forest Stakes as the James Fanshawe-trained Spacious came again in outdueling the Michael Stoute-trained Heaven Sent by a length. A Group 2 winner at 2, Spacious had finished second to Natagora in last year's 1000 Guineas but had gone off form since then. Her time for the straight mile was a slow 1:41.07 as the 3-2 favorite Lush Lashes came home sixth for her third subpar effort in a row.

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