HOWZAT FROM LAZZAT

French raider snares big prize

- DAVID YATES

LAZZAT proved hard to catch in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes - not to mention after it.

Having his first start in the blue and gold silks of the big spenders Wathnan Racing - the Emir of Qatar's ownership enterprise was seeking its fifth triumph of Royal Ascot 2025 the seven-year-old, trained in France by Jerome Reynier set out to make all the running in the final Group One race of Royal Ascot 2025.

Despite a sustained challenge by Japanese 2-1 favourite Satono Reve, seeking to give Japan a first Royal Ascot success, James Doyle's game mount galloped on determinedly to be vicorious in the six-furlong feature by half a length.

That proved the easy bit.

"Jerome was very confident - he said, 'Don't worry, he won't stop,'" reported the jockey.

How right he was.

Clearly with plenty left in the tank, Lazzat did a three-quarter-turn pirouette which in turn sent Doyle airborne with a near-somersault.