William Buick celebrates after crossing the line on Ribchester in the £350,000 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. (Pic: Courtesy of Newbury Racecourse).

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HORSE RACING and glamour combine at Royal Ascot which commences on Tuesday July 20 with the Queen Anne Stakes where Ribchester can get punters off to a winning start.

Ribchester, trained by Richard Fahey and owned by Godolphin produced a career-defining performance when leading all the way to land the Group 1 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury last month under William Buick.

The victory was the fourth in 11 starts for the son of Iffraaj who has already amassed over £1.5 million in prize money in a brief career that includes victory in a Group 1 at Deauville and third places in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and Qatar Sussex Stakes.

“Ribchester is a very good horse and very versatile,” Buick said after winning the Lockinge on the four-year-old who was having his second start of the campaign and followed a good run for third on his comeback race in a Group 1 in Dubai in late March.

“Richard and the team at home have done a fantastic job. He ran so well out in Dubai, where things probably didn’t quite work out for him, and he is just getting mentally better and physically stronger with every day that goes by.

“You would have to be very happy with that performance. He was in front the whole way basically and the ground is very testing. I am very, very happy to ride him.

“If you are going to compete in these Group 1 races and be successful, you have to be the complete package. The team at home have helped him become the complete package, which he is now.

“Sheikh Mohammed loves to win Group 1 races, he loves good horses, and this is what it is all about.”

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