There had not been a Yorkshire-trained winner at Royal Ascot at York until Melrose Avenue in the fifth race yesterday, but two races later there was another as Sir Titus, trained at Hambleton by Bryan Smart, completed a hat trick when upsetting 11/10 favourite Strike Up The Band in the opening Windsor Castle Stakes.
"It's great when the plan you have laid comes off and very good to have a winner trained in Yorkshire and ridden by a jockey, Kevin Darley, who lives in Yorkshire," said Smart, whose first Royal meeting strike this was.
"He is very fast, the fastest horse I've had, and it was because of his speed that we kept him a bit away from the others in the early stages. If the others had been too close to him he would have been tempted to take them on and so do too much too soon - he has been like that at home sometimes -, so the idea was to keep him apart to start with and then gradually bring him across.
"The real reason owner David Allan bought him was to run in the Weatherbys Super Sprint (at Newbury) and sales races in Ireland, and that very much remains the plan, but I think that he may well six furlongs in due course and we shall probably try him over that trip."
Though he raced apart from his rivals, Titus Alone was always up with the pace and in front two furlongs from home before staying on well to beat Strike Up The Band by a length.
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