Royal Ascot: Double delight

Beachfire and Namibian landed a Royal Ascot double for Dubai-owned horses yesterday as Immortal Verse became the first French-trained winner of the £250,000 Coronation Stakes (Group 1) in ten years. Beachfire sensationally took the spoils in the Wolferton Handicap Stakes to give the Emirates a third success in the race in six years, while Namibian gave trainer Mark Johnston his first winner of the Royal meeting when winning the Queen's Vase (Group 3). Beachfire, who came from last to first to land the Listed race, is owned by Princess Haya Bint Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. In second place was Lost In The Moment, ridden by Derby winning jockey Mickael Barzalona for the Godolphin Stables, the brainchild of Shaikh Mohammad. Perfect Strike, owned by Dubai businessman and former Epsom Derby winner Saeed Suhail, won the Wolferton in 2009 with the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Perfect Stride while Godolphin's Saeed Bin Surour landed the race in 2006 with Imperial Stride. Namibian raced to victory in the colours of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. Beachfire, who was sent to post at odds of 12/1, became the 10th outsider to score in the last ten runners of the 2,000 metre contest which presents older horses with an opportunity to compete in handicaps. Princess Haya was delighted with the win and told BBC television: "He's a lovely horse and John's a wonderful trainer. "It was so much fun watching the race and seeing Shaikh Mohammad's horse finish second. "It's a lovely result." Ridden by the charismatic William Buick, who was based at the Jebel Ali Stables during the 2010-2011 UAE Racing season, Beachfire produced an incredible turn of foot as he threaded his way through the field from last to lead for a two and a quarter length victory. The winner was completing a double for Gosden and his stable jockey Buick. who narrowly escaped serious injury when taking two falls in one day at Meydan racecourse in December. "It's just fantastic to ride a Royal Ascot winner for Princess Haya," he said. "To have two winners in a row here at Royal Ascot is great." John Godsen, who has sent out Beachfire to win four out of five starts as a three-year-old, commented: "Two things have helped: the soft ground and the headgear. "Last year he used to drop himself out of the race. You can do that against inferior opposition, but not when you're running here at Royal Ascot. "It's worked very well and he's come through them like a knife through butter. I'm very pleased. In this case the wife has beaten the second. We are delighted, so we are not in big trouble." Earlier Immortal Verse stamped her class on a competitive Coronation Stakes field with a two and a quarter length victory over another French hope Nova Hawk. The winner was trained by Robert Collet, whose son Rob trains the runner-up. Veteran French jockey Gerald Mosse was aboard Immortal Verse. Speaking through a translator, Collet said: "This filly is the best filly I have trained. From / gulfnews .