ASCOT, England, June 18 (Reuters) - Star stayer Scandinavia chased down last year's winner Trawlerman in the dying stages to claim the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and land trainer Aidan O'Brien his 100th winner at flat racing's most prestigious festival.
Locked in a neck-and-neck battle to the finish with long-term leader Trawlerman, race favourite Scandinavia showed grit and bravery to snatch the race under Ryan Moore on the line.
A gruelling stamina test stretching two miles and four furlongs, the Gold Cup is the feature race of Royal Ascot, a five-day racing festival that is much a celebration of fashion, millinery and haute cuisine as it is of racing.
Second-favourite Trawlerman broke well, galloping strongly ahead of Scandinavia and Caballo de Mar and led until the pair pulled clear on the home straight where Scandinavia proved too good for his older rival.
"We felt he was very brave. He always showed that in every race," said O'Brien. "He's relentless. Listen, it's an honour and a privilege for me to be involved in the team, to be the small part that I am with everybody."
O'Brien added it was "just incredible" to reach the century milestone.
O'Brien, who received his prize from Britain's King and Queen, has now trained 10 Gold Cup winners.
"Even this week, it's literally one race at a time and you don't even think about what it could be or whether it could happen because it's so competitive, so hard to win races here."
Jockey Moore, who is on his 96th Royal Ascot winner, said he had every confidence the horse would find a way to win despite Trawlerman's valiant attempt to hold him off. Of his boss' success, he said: “The reality with Aidan is he won’t care.
"He’ll be thinking about the next 100, that is what separates him.”
Idiosyncratic in the modern racing era where speed is often favoured over stamina, the Gold Cup's roll of honour lists some of the greats including Yeats, who won an unprecedented four Gold Cups.
Royal Ascot is one of the sport's most international events, with horses from eight nations competing for a share of its 10.65 million pounds ($14.08 million) prize money. A recent study showed it contributes 260 million pounds to Britain's economy.
($1 = 0.7566 pounds)
(Reporting by Virginia Furness; Editing by Toby Chopra and Pritha Sarkar)
