Ombudsman successfully defended his Prince of Wales’s Stakes crown with a brilliant display in Royal Ascot’s day two feature.

A quality field of eight runners went to post for the 10-furlong Group One, with John and Thady Gosden’s Ombudsman the favourite to become the first horse to go back-to-back in this event since the Gosden-trained Muhtarram in 1995.

In a race run at a furious gallop as the pacesetting pair of Devil’s Advocate and Mississippi River went at it hammer in tongs in front, William Buick was happy to take his time aboard the market leader before producing him to challenge halfway up the straight.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero Daryz and multiple Group One-winning filly Minnie Hauk were both in there pitching as the pacemakers faltered, but neither could resist the electric turn of Ombudsman, who powered clear late on to win in hugely impressive fashion by four lengths from Minnie Hauk.

John Gosden said: “Aidan (O’Brien) had a pacemaker and we thought we would have ours doing what we wanted to do as well so they wound up meeting as they came off the bend so they obviously agreed on the pace.

“A furlong and a half to go I thought ‘they are going to have to get to them’ but this horse has got a turn of foot, great acceleration for a mile and a quarter horse and he just showed that class.

“It was quite something to come away from the field like that. The filly (Minnie Hauk) ran great, the Arc winner Daryz ran great. Probably the horse that won in Ireland (Almaqam) might not have run his race today because he would usually have been in the shake-up but overall I thought it was one of the great performances of his career.

“He is very elegant. He is strong for sure. We will watch him for the next week to 10 days and the horse will tell you (how he is). You just watch them. You know their habits when they are right when they are 100 per cent, when they are full of it and when they are under par. The Juddmonte International would be the major target. He likes York.

“We are very lucky to have wonderful owners to send us those horses because you can’t train empty boxes. He is right up there with what he has done. Enable, she won everything.

“He is a lovely horse who will make a good stallion and he’s got a mind as well as a fabulous body and strength. . He is too good to go a mile and a half!”

Buick, riding his 40th winner at the meering, now rates Ombudsman among the best horses he has ever ridden.

“I’m privileged to be able to ride these horses, this horse is just an absolute privilege and joy to ride and deal with,” he said.

“What he did there was mind blowing. His turn of foot is that of a miler but he stays 10 furlongs, it was an amazing performance.

“John and Thady had him in great shape. I’m the lucky man on top.

“He’s a closer, people want pacemakers because they don’t want a false run race. I was never too far from the horse I needed to be near and I was comfortable the whole way, it was very smooth and all credit to the horse.

“I’ve ridden some amazing horses but this horse has an electric turn of foot and he must be right up there.

“Today, he pleasantly surprised me a little bit how well he did it and the feel he gave me, he was exceptional – it’s very rare for a horse to do what he did.”

Francis-Henri Graffard felt Royal Ascot racegoers did not get to see the “Daryz of Longchamp” in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Last season’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero had looked better than ever in winning the Prix Ganay and the Prix Aga Khan VI on his first two starts of this season, meaning that while he had disappointed on his only previous appearance in Britain, hopes in the camp were high ahead of his second trip across the Channel.

But while Daryz performed much better than when last of six behind the reopposing Ombudsman in the Juddmonte International at York, this time placing third behind John and Thady Gosden’s 10-furlong superstar, Graffard is adamant his charge was not seen to best effect.

“I don’t know what to say, he just didn’t have a very good run,” he said.

“The two pacemakers went forward and my horse was not covered, he never really relaxed or got the chance to take a breath. I don’t think he travelled or relaxed through the race, he was out of his rhythm all the time and that’s why he shortened up his action at the end.

“Ombudsman had a perfect run and didn’t have to make any effort up to entering the straight, while we had to make effort all the time. That’s the way the race went.

“We didn’t see the Daryz of Longchamp when he was nice and relaxed and quickened really strongly. Today he was not like that.”

Splitting Ombudsman and Daryz in second place was Aidan O’Brien’s multiple Group One-winning filly Minnie Hauk.

Just a head behind Daryz in the Arc in October, she disappointed in the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time out but bounced back to something like her best to fill the runner-up spot over a trip her trainer feels is short of her best.

O’Brien said: “We’re delighted. She is a mile and a half filly and over a mile and a quarter she wanted an end to end gallop. Obviously that was going to suit the winner as well, but she’s a mile and a half filly and it was lovely.

“She beat the horse she ran against in the Arc last year and she’s so straightforward. Ryan (Moore) rode her very confidently, like there was no doubt about anything today, and he said she kept travelling and the winner just quickened a bit better than her over a mile and a quarter.

“If the lads want they can bring her back here for the King George. The lads will decide what they want to do, but this was the perfect prep for the King George and she could then have one more run and then the Arc. That would work very well.”

Image: Focus On Racing