There are few horses in training who deserve a Group One success more than Crystal Ocean, and finally, in the Prince Of Wales Stakes, he got the prize he deserved. Not only did he win a Group One, but he won what many were billing as the race of the meeting, on the biggest stage and at the biggest meeting of them all. If you're going to go out and finally win a Group One, you may as well do it at Royal Ascot and that is exactly what Crystal Ocean did.
This was an exceptional field of horses, and even though they went without last year's Derby winner Masar, the race oozed quality from the top to the bottom of the race card. Favourite for the race Magical was coming here on the back of three wins this season, and getting close to Enable last season in America, she set the standard in this one. We also had the Arc second Sea Of Class, another who ran Enable close at the end of last season and French challenger Waldgeist, who won a Group One in France back in April by nearly five lengths. All of them together made for a great race, one that the public were eagerly awaiting the start of.
However, those challenger all had to play second best today to Crystal Ocean who won the race, and equally as important, to Frankie Dettori who gave his horse a wonderful ride. Frankie took him to the front early in a bid to kick on and use the stamina this horse has, and that plan worked perfectly for him. The official winning distance was one and a quarter length, although Magical never really threatened to go past the winner.
As much as this week will be about celebrating this success, the future is very exciting for Crystal Ocean, and it is going to be interesting to see where he goes next. He has two clear options in front of him for his next run, both of which are in July and then after that there is a huge target for him to aim for to round off what could be his final season in training.
He could head to the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, which is over 1m2f, the same distance as his Royal Ascot success. When a horse finally wins a Group One, they usually remain over the same distance although is you look at his runs in the past, 1m4f seems to suit Crystal Ocean better so it is not guaranteed where this horse will go next.
If they go down the 1m4f route, which appears to be the most likely then that would mean a return to Ascot towards the end of July. That would be for the King George, a race he finished second in last season. The latest Oddschecker odds have him at 4/1 for the King George, which makes him the second favourite in the race behind Enable. However, the talk is that Enable will not run in the King George and will instead run in the Eclipse over the slightly shorter distance and that would then mean Crystal Ocean would be a strong favourite to win another Group One race.
Longer term, the Arc, which was won by Enable last year, has to be on the agenda and that could well be the final time we see him on a racecourse. The French showpiece comes at the end of the season and is over 1m4f, bringing together the very best horses in the world. While Crystal Ocean would have a lot on his plate here, as a Group One winner he is more than entitled to go for it.
As a five year old, and with a potential stallion career ahead of him, this could be the last season of racing for Sir Michael Stoute's runner. His trainer is known for being patient and bringing his horses through slowly, with many of them having their best season's as either a four or five year old. This horse certainly appears to be going down that route, and based on that you wouldn't rule out him picking up another Group One win.
