The Tin Man by a neck in Diamond Jubilee as Royal Ascot meet comes to close

Early this week at Royal Ascot, all the horses in straight-course races clustered around the stand’s side rail, where the going appeared to be better, but by week’s end, it was the far-side rail that offered the best footing, and it was there that The Tin Man rallied on strongly to win the final Group 1 race of the 2017 Royal Ascot meet, the Diamond Jubilee on Saturday.

The Tin Man, with Tom Queally riding for trainer James Fanshawe, was up by a neck in the $435,000 Diamond Jubilee, a six-furlong dash that had a thrilling finish this year. The Tin Man still had several lengths to find a quarter-mile from the finish, but Queally got his mount rolling, found room between horses, got to the rail about a furlong out, and came across the line a neck in front of Tasleet. Tasleet, also coming from behind, finished well in his own right and was three-quarters of a length better than the favored Limato.

The Tin Man hung to the left just before the finish, putting Limato, who was between The Tin Man and Tasleet, in tight quarters. The stewards took a good look at the action but let stand the result.

The Tin Man, a 5-year-old, is by Equiano and out of Persario, by Bishop of Cashel, and by running six furlongs over good-to-firm turf in 1:12.02, he won for the seventh time in 13 starts. The Tin Man finished eighth of nine in this race a year ago but went on to win the Group 1 British Champion Sprint Stakes over this course last October.

The Tin Man could meet the standout 3-year-old Caravaggio in the Group 1 July Cup next month.

The Bill Mott-trained Long On Value, who had run so well to finish second by a nose at Meydan in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint, never made an impression in the Diamond Jubilee and finished 12th.

In other action Saturday, trainer Aidan O’Brien notched a double for the second day in a row, winning the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes with Idaho and the listed Chesham for 2-year-olds with the impressive September.

Idaho, ridden by Seamie Heffernan, tracked the favored Dartmouth for most of the 1 1/2-mile Hardwicke and took over late when Dartmouth failed to finish the job after taking the lead 1 1/2 furlongs out. Idaho held the late-running Barsanti by a half-length, with Chemical Charge up over Dartmouth for third.

The 2-year-old filly September, by Deep Impact, had won her career debut by more than five lengths at Leopardstown, and she was much the best against stronger competition in the seven-furlong Chesham, overcoming a slow start to win going away while looking like one of the more promising 2-year-olds in Europe for the summer and fall.

Ryan Moore rode September for O’Brien, and both won six races during the five-day meeting, taking home champion honors for jockey and trainer. O’Brien got off to a relatively slow start this week but scored a Group 1 double Friday with Winter in the Coronation and Caravaggio in the Commonwealth Cup. Moore and O’Brien also teamed to win the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday with Highland Reel.

The dynamic duo just missed yet another Group 1 success when Order of St George was denied a second straight win in the Ascot Gold Cup by Big Orange in perhaps the week’s most exciting race.

Royal Ascot 2017 also was kind to Godolphin, which won the Group 1 Queen Anne with Ribchester, took a second Group 1 on Tuesday with Barney Roy in the St. James’s Palace, and won the Hampton Court Stakes with Benbatl.

Wesley Ward failed to win a 2-year-old race this year, though Happy Like a Fool was a good second in the Queen Mary, but Ward still captured two races, including the Group 1 King’s Stand with Lady Aurelia, who rated among the week’s sharpest winners. John Velazquez rode Lady Aurelia after a persisting arm injury forced Frankie Dettori, who had been scheduled to ride most of Ward’s horses, to miss the meeting. Jamie Spencer picked up the mount on Con Te Partiro, who upset the listed Sandringham Stakes.