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Warm Heart (7/1) scorched the Ascot turf to provide the red-hot Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore with their third win of the week in this afternoon’s Ribblesdale Stakes.
Once again Ryan Moore proved his worth as he masterfully managed to get his mount into a prominent position from stall sixteen, a manoeuvre that ultimately probably proved decisive.
The progressive three-year-old filly battled on gamely to deny the reopposing Bluestocking by a head in the Listed Haras De Bouquetot Fillies' Trial Stakes at Goodwood on her fourth career start and seemingly took another step forward when upped to twelve furlongs this afternoon.
Aidan O'Brien's filly was always well-positioned just off the front under Ryan Moore and the pair kicked for home approaching the two-furlong marker. The daughter of Galileo displayed a willing attitude and stretched nicely clear to finish two-and-a-half lengths in front of Joseph O'Brien's Lumiere Rock at the line. It was more Royal Ascot frustration for Frankie Dettori, who had to come from some way back on his mount Bluestocking as she finished off strongly to finish third.
O'Brien said: "Ryan gave Warm Heart a lovely ride and I'm delighted with her. She ran a very good race at Newbury the last day and we weren't sure whether the trip would be too far for her. Ryan planned to take his time with her today, to find a handy position and wait as long as possible.
"Ryan is brilliant, an incredible fella. He must be nearly 40, but every year he gets better. He gets better because he puts so much in day in and day out. When he comes over [to Ireland] he stays with us and runs six or seven miles every morning before he sits on a horse. He's so fit, so focused and so committed, and when you ask him a question all the information comes out about the horse, the ride, the ground. He's an incredible horseman, very cool under pressure and a total professional. We're so lucky to have him.
Talking about the filly, he added: "Warm Heart ran at Newbury over a mile and a quarter and we thought that was maybe as far as she was going to get. We didn't know when she got to the front today whether she would run out of stamina, but obviously, we saw she probably doesn't want to get to the front too early.
"She got the trip very well today and Ryan gave her a beautiful ride. She's out of a great mare and usually, those fillies with good pedigrees do improve – physically she's doing great."
Moore said: "In Warm Heart's previous race they went real hard, while in this race they didn't. She's a very straightforward filly and it all worked out.
"It's very hard here and you need the little things to work for you. Sometimes the ball bounces for you and sometimes it doesn't. That's racing.
"She's definitely a better filly today [compared to her previous run at Newbury]. It was up to a mile and a half, but it wasn't strongly run race, so we haven't answered the question [of whether she truly stays the longer trip] but she's won a lovely prize today."