Royal Ascot: Crimson Advocate gives Weaver first Ascot win

Crimson Advocate won a head bob to capture the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes for 2-year-old fillies in Wednesday’s first race, the fifth American winner of this five-furlong fixture.

The first four American winners were trained by Wesley Ward, and this was a first Royal Ascot success for trainer George Weaver. John Velazquez, notching his fourth Royal Ascot victory, rode Crimson Advocate.

Ward’s entrant, Bundchen, leapt at the start, raced from last, and checked in 22nd. Another American horse, Cynane, was 10th.

Crimson Advocate, by Nyquist out of Citizen Advocate, by Proud Citizen, had debuted with a third-place finish over the Keeneland dirt track before winning the Royal Palm Stakes, a Gulfstream Park turf sprint, by 3 1/2 lengths, punching her ticket to Royal Ascot. Wednesday, she led the main pack of runners racing on the near side of the wide course and finished just well enough to land the Queen Mary. Relief Rally came flying late and led one stride before the finish and one stride after, but Crimson Advocate got the favorable head bob and the glory. The winner was not so much stopping as the runner-up came especially fast, since third-place Beautiful Diamond, the favorite, was beaten two lengths by Relief Rally in a 26-runner field.

Weaver trains Crimson Advocate ($22.70) for R.A. Hill, Swinbank, Black Ridge, and Black Type.

“I came here eight years ago with a horse [Cyclogenesis] that wasn’t good enough,” Weaver said. “I thought it would be great if I could ever come back with something that was, and we did.”

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