Aint Nobody Strikes Late In The Windsor Castle

Royal Ascot is the crown jewel of British racing, welcoming the summer months with a festival of top class racing. Having a runner with a chance is what many hope for, to have a winner is why people buy into the dream. Aint Nobody maintained his perfect record when he took the 5f Windsor Castle, storming through late on.

Sands Of Mali was a top class sprinter in his career and has already made a bright start to his stallion duties. Aint Nobody hails from a classy sprinting dam so he looked quite a fair price when knocked down to Kevin and Steve Hillen at GoffsUK for just £30,000. The colt did take time to really thrive and come to himself. He was quite late coming into his coat, but once he did he shaped like a nice horse.

Carlisle has been a lucky track in recent years for the yard, with notably Hello Youmzain kickstarting his career at the track. Aint Nobody made an impressive debut, winning at the first try but in decisive fashion. After some deliberation, it was decided that the 2yo could take his chance at the Royal meeting.

There is no better man than Jamie Spencer at riding the Ascot straight course and he was booked for the ride. The Windsor Castle is always an ultra competitive race, with 27 precocious 2yo’s charging down the Berkshire turf. Drawn 27, Aint Nobody was stands side, but there was plenty of pace right across the track. The American raider blazed a trail down the near side which allowed Jamie to track the blistering pace, sitting towards the front of the near side group. Throughout the first half of the race both groups seemed to be on terms with one another.

With the far side group containing more of the field, they looked to hold the advantage passing the 3f and into the final 2f. The near side continued to chase the American challenger and around 2 1/2f from home, Aint Nobody just got a little lost and outpaced. Jamie gathered up his mount and got to work on him, trying to get back into his racing rhythm. For such an inexperienced horse this could have been game over but Aint Nobody started to respond to pressure. With a couple of reminders the colt changed legs and move forward.

The near side still held sway as they bared down on the final furlong, with the leader having set sail for home. Aint Nobody had moved through to give chase but would still have over a couple of lengths to find. It did seem as though the near side were finishing the stronger and especially Aint Nobody. As he burst through, the gap was diminishing but the leader was still not stopping. Aint Nobody was in full swing though, having momentum behind him and under a Spencer drive. Picking the leader up with 1/2f to run he quickly swept by. This was Aint Nobody’s race now and he strode out to the cheers of his owners. Striding out he took down the Windsor Castle by a length.

Royal Ascot can make or break horses, especially 2yo’s. Aint Nobody showed a great attitude throughout the day, handling all the pre-lims and atmosphere. Despite getting outpaced halfway, Aint Nobody finished with a real flourish and in the end he won a shade cosily. On. both his runs his best part of the race has been the latter stages which suggests that 6f would suit. He has now got listed honours and the next step will be group company. There are plenty of options coming up, both at home and abroad. It was great for the Matthews and Blackburn families to get a winner at the Royal meeting and hopefully the journey can continue throughout the year.