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Te Akau Colours at Royal Ascot

Tara Madgwick - Thursday June 21
The versatility of champion sire Fastnet Rock will be highlighted at Royal Ascot tonight when his tough staying son Torcedor carries the Te Akau colours of David Ellis in the Group I Royal Ascot Gold Cup over the extreme staying trip of two miles and four furlongs, a race won by his close relation Yeats an astonishing four times.

TorcedorTrained by Jessica Harrington, Torcedor has improved with every season of racing and at age six is in career best form with a last start win in the Group III Sagaro Stakes at Ascot over two miles indicating he was over an out of character failure in the Dubai Gold Cup.

"Torcedor was the class horse of the race and if he ran to three-quarters of his best I thought he'd beat those horses today," said his regular rider Colm O'Donoghue after his win in the Sagaro.

"Dubai was just unfortunate - when you travel a horse that far you're learning all the time, but he's come back in great shape. He's from the same family as Yeats and has that great body to him. Hopefully it's all systems go to the Gold Cup."

Torcedor was a 70,000 euro purchase for BBA Ireland / David Ellis from the Arqana August Yearling Sale and has won five times and placed six times from just 18 starts for Te Akau Racing.

Torcedor is the best of five winners from Sadler's Wells mare Magnolia Lane, a full sister to champion Stayer and four-time Group I Ascot Gold Cup winner Yeats.
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