Ancestor stepped up from a below par run in May after running out a ready winner at Yarmouth on Wednesday. The son of Sea The Stars was keen early on, but unlike his debut, coped with those early exertions. Cieren Fallon grabbed the rail under what was a sedate gallop early on. He upped the gallop prior to the bend, fending off the challenge of Seacole. Given how keen he was, it was an impressive finish to conquer the favourite Waterford Castle.
Ancestor was beaten 14 lengths on debut behind the talented Wareeth, with two subsequent winners ahead of him.
Maureen Haggas told Sky Sports Racing, via the Racing Post: “He’s not been that straightforward. A lot of people have done a lot of work on him to get to this point. Thankfully he’s now performing and the last few weeks have been really good. We always thought he had ability. But, being a son of Sea The Stars, they can be challenging, so he’s been gelded, which has helped him.
Despite displaying signs of his previous greenness, Haggas believes the early gallop played a factor. She said: “It was a silly race. We wanted to get a lead because he was too keen last time. But if they’d gone a normal pace he probably would have settled. They were going no pace, but he picked up well in the straight.”
Cieren Fallon reduces the gap to Billy Loughnane to 14 winners
Cieren Fallon, who coincidentally rode Ancestor’s relative Chalk Stream to victory at Ascot in 2021, continued his title charge. In the 4:45, he reduced his gap to 14 when making on all on Divot for William Knight.
Like Loughnane in 2023, Fallon was Champion Apprentice in 2019, retaining the award in 2020. His father, Kieren, was Champion Jockey six times. Fallon has two rides on Thursday, including Bulletsnap in the 14:10 Doncaster where he takes on Loughnane’s Ottoman Chief. He faces Loughnane again in the 15:55, riding Brighton View for William Knight.
Fallon will ride four at York on Friday, including First Instinct in the Summer Stakes for William Haggas. His highest profile ride comes on Saturday, where he rides More Thunder in the Summer Mile Stakes. It’s the first time he rides the son of Night Of Thunder, taking over from Tom Marquand in the saddle.