A groundsworker was the luckiest man at Royal Ascot on Saturday after he narrowly avoided being kicked in the head byQueen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes winner Lazzat.
The Wathnan-owned sprinter displayed an impressive turn of pace to fend off the challenge of Satono Reve in a thrilling installment of the Group 1 race.
Celebrations turned sour, however, when the four-year-old dumped jockey James Doyle to the turf after he appeared to have been unnerved by a cloth which was waved in his direction.
Lazzat proceeded to turn and run down the track before he was cornered by staff who attempted to calm the situation.
Instead, the horse lashed out with a violent kick that missed one groundsworker by a matter of inches.
Such was the ferocity and shock nature of the kick, however, that the man in question was sent crashing through the railings.
Reacting to the scary scenes live, ITV Racing pundit Jason Weaver shouted: ‘The sheet! Oh no, he’s had a howler with the sheet!’
Minutes earlier Satono Reve was sent off the 2-1 favourite to become the first Japanese winner at the Royal meeting and was travelling powerfully throughout the contest in the hands of Joao Moreira.
However, it was Jerome Reynier’s Lazzat, who made every yard in the hands of Doyle, who stayed on strongest in the closing stages, striking on his first start for his new ownes at odds of 9-2 to continue a fine week for both his rider and owners.
Lazzat was adding a second Group One win to his tally after landing last year’s Prix Maurice de Gheest, but he had been beaten in Australia when sent on his travels at the end of the campaign.
Reynier, saddling his first Royal Ascot winner, said: ‘He did (win at the top level) as a three-year-old in the Maurice de Gheest in Deauville but after having been all the way to Australia and Hong Kong, I was a bit scared that it was going to be tough to find Lazzat the same as he was but obviously we have been trying him over a mile to open his options, but he’s a pure sprinter and we will stick to the sprinting distances over the straight courses for his future.
‘That was a pretty tough challenge (from Satono Reve). I’ve been watching all his races and he’s always coming late and he’s always running on but James had a really good feeling with the horse and when the Japanese came to him, he put his ears back and tried again and he said there was no way he was going to pass him today.’
Paddy Power cut Lazzat to 7-2 favourite from 8-1 for the July Cup at Newmarket, but Reynier feels that is an unlikely option.
He added: ‘The July Cup is coming a little quickly I guess but maybe we’ll defend his crown in the Maurice de Gheest, we’ve got the Sprint Cup and we can be back here in October because he can handle any ground, if the ground is heavy he can do it then as well.
‘He’s a very good champion. Today everything went right for once and we’re happy to have a first Royal Ascot winner, especially for Wathnan and Nurlan Bizakov as a breeder. I’m very happy for the connections involved.’
