It was a blank second day for Ireland and for thousands of punters who saw their resources melt away in the sweltering heat. Showboat turned the Royal Hunt Cup into a procession and was a reasonable fancy at 14 to 1, while Endorsement and Queen Elizabeth's Blueprint were late popular winners but earlier the bookmakers had delivered a trio of sucker punches.
The 33 to 1 "no hoper" Lots Of Magic returned to lots of silence after making all in the Jersey Stakes; the 20 to 1 Shining Hour pounced late to deny the Queen Mary market leaders Rowaasi and Warrior Queen; and as if that wasn't bad enough, the clash of the classic fillies in the Coronation Stakes resulted in the unconsidered Balisada (at 16 to 1) skinning the lot of them.
So unconsidered was Balisada that one morning price had her at 40 to 1. Her trainer Geoff Wragg rated that an insult and stepped in, but then Balisada was his only runner at the meeting and if he didn't rate her, who would.
"I saw the 40 to 1 and I thought Jesus, they must be taking the piss," Wragg said, but he knew what most didn't and he had won this race with a 25 to 1 shot in Rebecca Sharp in 1992. "She was going to be my Guineas filly but then she threw a curb and I had to stop. She wasn't fully fit at Goodwood and the delay has turned into a blessing in disguise as she has really improved," he added.
The race was a messy one, however, with Hawriyah setting a crawling pace, and the field waited until the turn in to quicken. Valentine Waltz got no run at a crucial stage, the favourite Wannabe Grand flattered and just when Kieren Fallon on Golden Silca thought he had it, Balisada sprouted wings on the outside.
It was a first Royal Ascot winner in seven years for Michael Roberts, who smiled: "She works at home with speed and that was exceptional. But Geoff is a very clever man and when he starts to talk about one, you listen."
The talk before the Queen Mary was that Warrior Queen was a more than realistic challenger to the supposed hotpot Rowaasi. However, Warrior Queen got very upset in the stalls and was slowly away. In the circumstances, she did really well to challenge with the favourite at the furlong pole, but then Shining Hour arrived under Jimmy Fortune and won by half a length. "She hit her head off the gates twice and did well to get back after the way she jumped, but she had to use herself up to get there," said Warrior Queen's trainer Aidan O'Brien.
The Ballydoyle trainer had earlier finished just fourth in the Jersey Stakes with Stravinsky, but it wasn't the favourite Enrique who landed the spoils. Rather it was Lots Of Magic, who was a first Royal winner for Monkstown, Co. Cork rider, Dane O'Neill. He reported: "I had hoped to be in the first three or four and fourth or fifth is what we were really thinking of!"
In contrast, expectations were high for Queen Elizabeth's Blueprint in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes and the colt duly delivered under the American Gary Stevens. "The thrill of a lifetime," was how Stevens described the experience. Those hardy souls who had persevered until the end would probably agree.
