Racing: Grumpy Grandera replies for Godolphin

Royal Ascot: Big-race triumph for Sheikh Mohammed while Pat Eddery equals Lester Piggott's record

The metronome at racing's pinnacle ticked almost inevitably back towards Godolphin yesterday as the Arab racing team responded to the first day salvo here of their great Ballydoyle rivals by winning the premier race on the card, the Prince of Wales's Stakes.

Grandera has been in the Godolphin chorus since he was purchased from James Fanshawe's Newmarket stable last year, but yesterday was his turn to step forward with a vengeance. The colt with attitude channelled his cussedness into the business of competing as he stormed five lengths clear of the toilers.

There are now historical parallels with Godolphin's Fantastic Light and Dubai Millennium, the last two winners of this race to emerge from the Emirates, and while Grandera is not reckoned to be of their ilk, this is just the beginning of his story.

It might have been tempting to hold a party in the chestnut's stables last night, but Grandera would not have appreciated the cake and balloons. He is a thoroughly unpleasant beast. "He's not a particularly nice character," Simon Crisford, the Godolphin racing manager, said. "You wouldn't want to take him on in a fight in his box. He can be a bit nasty. He's a racehorse not a pet."

Saeed Bin Suroor did not get to his age by meddling with cantankerous colts and saddled Grandera outside the paddock box. "He doesn't want you to go in there," he said. "He kicks and he bites. You have to treat him nicely all the time."

Grandera does not just target humans. In the parade ring he was fly-kicking and trying to get at his rivals. The behaviour did not detract, though, from a glorious appearance. Grandera's hide was burnished brown, as was the skin of Banks Hill, the favourite.

It was Sydenham, the second Godolphin entry, who did the pacemaking as Cape Town and Bach tracked in behind. It was only in the straight that the main players came to the fore, Banks Hill struggling to the front and then Grandera swooping with nonchalance. He was soon clear and, for once, behaving like a pussycat, until he jerked his head upwards as if consulting an airport timetable. By then a five-length lead had been established. Indian Creek stayed on into second, with Banks Hill third.

Grandera thus became the second big-race winner of the season to have been picked out by Sheikh Mohammed on an away day. Kazzia, his 1,000 Guineas and Oaks winner, was spotted in Milan, while Grandera was identified as a prospective Godolphin horse at the French Derby last year.

The Sheikh thought he recognised an international horse, a road warrior as they call them in the United States, and Grandera, a winner in Singapore this year, will soon be on his travels again, probably to the Arlington Million in Chicago. "He's also in the King George, he's in everything, in every single country you could possibly imagine," Crisford said.

"We were pretty scared when we saw Frankie taking a pull two out. To win here and to win that impressively you've got to be some type of machine. We came here with a particularly weak team by our standards. A win is a massive bonus."

Grandera was not the only equine hooligan on patrol. The sinister Just James pounced late in the Jersey Stakes to provide Jeremy Noseda with a first Royal winner. "He is a bit of a thug at home," the trainer said. "It's all in the mind with him. He has his going days and his non-going days, and, unfortunately, you cannot always tell when they're going to be."

The Ascot Stakes has been kind to Kieren Fallon since it almost ended his career when he fell on Alhawa two years ago. The champion jockey won the marathon 12 months ago on Cover Up and followed up yesterday on Martin Pipe's Riyadh.

It was Fallon's 16th Royal winner, but he still has a considerable journey before he matches the feats of a countryman, both here and in racing as a whole. When Romantic Liason ran away with the Queen Mary Stakes she provided Royal Ascot success No.73 for Pat Eddery and, more significantly, brought the 11-times champion jockey level on 4,493 career winners with Lester Piggott. There is another gulf before he can get to Gordon Richards on 4,870, but the indefatigable Eddery promises to give it a go.

"What a great ride Pat gave her," Brian Meehan, Romantic Liason's trainer, said. "Pat's ridden all those winners and he's the greatest, absolutely."