Flag day for Aidan O'Brien as Starspangledbanner flies again

IT MIGHT not have been the stellar week he hoped for, but Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien kept up his remarkable Group 1 winning record at Royal Ascot when Starspangledbanner won the Golden Jubilee Stakes yesterday.

After O'Brien and jockey Johnny Murtagh teamed up for Lillie Langtry's win in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes on Friday, money came pouring in for Starspangledbanner who went off the 13-2 joint favourite and won the 255,000 first prize with relative ease.

The field for the six-furlong sprint split into two and it was clear some way from home that Starspangled banner would lead the stands' side echelon all the way to the line after a stunning piece of acceleration. Murtagh simply had to keep the five-year-old import from Australia up to his work for a hugely impressive win by the son of 2003 winner Choisir.

Society Rock was always up there and kept on for second at generous odds of 50-1 while American raider Kinsale King turned in an excellent performance in his first race on grass to finish third under Kieren Fallon at odds of 8-1. Fleeting Spirit, best of those on the far side, came in fourth.

O'Brien said: "He's the fastest we've had, no doubt. We've never had one go that fast, furlong by furlong. We will look forward to the July Cup, hopefully. He's an incredible sprinter."

Some 35 minutes later, Murtagh was again the punters' darling when he steered home Jeremy Noseda's Laddies Poker Two to land an even bigger gamble on her first racecourse appearance in 610 days in the six furlong Wokingham Stakes.

Backed down from 10-1 and bigger, the five-year-old grey mare was sent off at 9-2, and like Starspangledbanner she also showed an electrifying burst of speed to go clear on the stands side. Palace Moon and Knot In Wood filled the places.

Earlier, Clive Brittain's Zaidan (7-1) won the opening Chesham Stakes to earn a 25-1 quote for next year's 2,000 Guineas, while Hughie Morrison's Cill Rialaig took the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes by a neck from Imposing.

Ryan Moore clinched the meeting's champion jockey title with a double aboard Sir Michael Stoute's Harbinger in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes followed by Bergo, trained by his father Gary, in the closing event, Britain's longest Flat race the 2m 6f Queen Alexandra Stakes.