Love conquers in Prince of Wales's, her first start of 2021

Love was worth the wait.

Unraced since Aug. 20, Love made a triumphant return to the races with a game victory over Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf heroine Audarya in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday at Royal Ascot.

The Wednesday feature lost some luster when 2020 Prince of Wales’s winner Lord North was scratched due to concerns over quick ground, but the race produced ample drama.

:: Royal Ascot 2021: Get PPs, previews, analysis, recaps and more

Ryan Moore put Love on the lead at the start, and the star 4-year-old filly never relinquished it, though Audarya gave Love all she wanted. Moore sat chilly through the middle stages of the 1 1/4-mile contest, started slightly moving his hands with about three furlongs out, and incrementally asked Love for more as the field came off the turn and into the Ascot homestretch. Audarya, racing for the first time since her Breeders’ Cup win in November at Keeneland, had momentum into the final furlong and appeared to be gaining ground, but Love fought bravely and hit the finish three-quarters of a length better than her rival.

“A little bit worried coming to today because she was prepared for a few runs and didn’t get to start, and she came into this without a run,” said trainer Aidan O’Brien. “There was no pace in it, and Ryan did a great job doing enough to win but not doing too much.”

Armory, also trained by O’Brien, had too much to do after racing near the rear but finished well enough for third, beaten three-quarters of a length by Audarya while giving three pounds to the two fillies.

A year ago, Love had shot toward the top of global Thoroughbred rankings by pulling a rare English Classic-race double, sweeping to victory in the 1000 Guineas over a straight mile at Newmarket before romping in the 1 1/2-mile Oaks at Epsom. She beat older rivals in her first try, the Aug. 20 Yorkshire Oaks, and was favored to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before a wet European autumn led connections to put Love, who evidently requires firmer going to show her best, away for the year. Love’s 2021 debut had been scheduled for the Tattersalls Gold Cup last month in Ireland but a very soft course at The Curragh forced O’Brien to postpone the filly’s first start this season until Wednesday.

Love is by Galileo out of Pikaboo, by Pivotal. She won her fourth race in a row, all Group 1s, and is a seven-time winner from 11 starts.

“She has all the complete attributes of a Galileo,” O’Brien said. “If you watch, she was galloping with her head on the ground, waiting for Ryan to say, ‘Come on.’ I knew she was going to do that, that she’d give her all, this filly, when he asked.”

The late start to her season, O’Brien believes, give Love “an ideal preparation into the summer and autumn,” and while leaving open the chance of taking a different route, O’Brien strongly suggested Love would make her next start over 1 1/2 miles July 24 at Ascot in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Love, O’Brien believes, would prefer to have a target and also figures to improve with the comeback run behind her. Which makes the rest of her campaign must-watch racing.

Queen Mary

Trainer Wesley Ward's bid to win a fifth Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot fell short as Quick Suzy came up the stand's side rail and won the straight-course five-furlong Queen Mary by 1 1/4 lengths over the Ward-trained favorite, Twilight Gleaming. Twilight Gleaming, John Velazquez riding, broke sharply and led the group of horses nearest the stand's side as the field of 21 split into two groups. Another American shipper, Artos, led the horses on the other side of the course and stayed on well to just miss finishing third. Twilight Gleaming led into the final furlong but was outfinished by Quick Suzy through the final uphill stages of the Group 2 race for 2-year-olds. Quick Suzy, a shipper from Ireland, was ridden by Gary Carroll for trainer Gavin Cromwell. Second last out in a Group 3 at Naas, Quick Suzy, a daughter of Profitable, raced on a far firmer course than she'd encountered in her three Irish races and appeared to relish the ground. She was timed in 1:00.01 and paid $16.30 in the international pari-mutuel pool.

Queen’s Vase

Kemari, making just his third career start and exiting a six-length maiden win at Yarmouth, dominated the Group 2 Queen’s Vase, winning the 1 3/4-mile contest for 3-year-olds by 1 1/2 lengths over favored Wordsworth.

Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, the colt’s breeder, Kemari is by Dubawi out of Koora, a Pivotal mare who was a Group 3 stakes-winner over 1 1/2 miles. Clearly comfortable over quick ground Wednesday, Kemari got a great trip under William Buick, who stuck his mount along the fence and just behind his pacesetting stablemate Law of the Sea. A gap opened after the field turned for home, Kemari came right through and, showing strong acceleration, opened a commanding lead. Wordsworth needed much more time to find his best stride and when he finally began making some ground on the winner it was much too late. Kemari paid $15.70 on the international tote.

Duke of Cambridge

Indie Angel, a 15-1 shot on the international toteboard, cruised to a surprising – and surprisingly easy – victory in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes. Ridden by Frankie Dettori for co-trainers John and Thady Gosden, 4-year-old Indie Angel raced in handicaps during her 2020 campaign and had only made her group stakes debut May 2, finishing fourth in the Dahlia at Newmarket. But racing from the back of the field in the one-mile, straight-course Duke of Cambridge, Indie Angel rallied powerfully along the stand’s side rail, sailing to a 2 1/2-length score over Lady Bowthorpe, winner of the Dahlia, where she beat Indie Angel by 3 1/2 lengths. Indie Angel is by Dark Angel out of Indigo Lady, by Sir Percy.

Windsor Castle

Chipotle beat 26 rivals, including two Wesley Ward-trained runners, to win the listed Windsor Castle Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths. Chipotle got away slowly but finished fast on the far rail under Charles Bishop to win with surprising ease given the mere five furlongs of the Windsor Castle. Eve Johnson Houghton trains Chipotle, a son of Havana Gold, who won his first two starts before struggling over soft ground in his most recent outing. Ruthin, the Ward-trained favorite, led during the early and middle stages but hung right approaching the final furlong and faded to seventh. Ward's other runner, Golden Bell, never factored and checked in 16th.