Callum Hutchinson secured an emotional first win at Royal Ascot on Tuesday and his coach shared a sweet throwback photograph to pay tribute to the budding star.
Chester Cup runner-up Coltrane - who was 14/1 - provided Hutchinson with a first Royal Ascot winner, with his horse holding off favourite Bring On The Night (3/1) in the Ascot Stakes. In a competitive field for the two-and-a-half-mile handicap, Coltrane bided its time just behind the leading group.
The son of former Jump jockey Wayne, Hutchinson needed the gaps to open early in the straight and his mount found plenty for pressure to hold on by three-quarters of a length from the Willie Mullins-trained mare. Hutchinson’s coach Brendan Powell took to social media to congratulate the star jockey.
“Four years ago young @callumvennhutch started with me,” Powell said. “Absolutely delighted to see him progress, and ride his 1st Royal Ascot winner. Dreams do turn into reality if you work hard!”
Behind Coltrane by another three-quarters of a length in third was Arcadian Sunrise (9/2) while Going Gone (50/1) was fourth and last year’s champion Reshoun (16/1) secured fifth. After the win, Hutchinson said: “I can’t put it into words! A big thank you to the boss and to the Mariscottis [Coltrane’s owners] for giving me such a great opportunity.
“The boss has been a great supporter this year and I’ve ridden six winners from 17 rides for him. He’s been great to me, and I’ve been kicking on throughout the year. Hopefully this winner will give me a real kick and the season will keep on progressing.
“He jumped beautifully; I kicked to go forward and could sit sort of mid-handy. All the horses from the outer draws wanted to get handy as well so they kicked on, but we got a lovely tow. The horse got me out of trouble two out, he got through the gap nicely and quickened away there.
“I saw Ryan [Moore] coming upsides me [on Bring On The Night] and in the back of my mind I thought this could be game over, but he’s a tough horse and he’s galloped strongly all the way to the line.
“He is a big yard legend and I’ve ridden him a fair bit at home. People come in and out and he’s the one they get to sit on – he’s just a brilliant horse to have.
“My mum and my nan are here, so they’ll be delighted to see that. Obviously, my dad was a jump jockey and rode multiple Grade 1 winners, so that was something I wanted to do, although he never rode at Royal Ascot.”
Victorious trainer Andrew Balding was also thrilled with the result, adding: “I was just really happy all the way through. I thought Callum gave him a beautiful ride. He was always in the right spot and made his space like a seasoned pro in the straight. I thought, ‘oh, Ryan [Moore]’s going to come and do us here’, but Callum is strong in a finish as well. I’m very proud of the jockey and very proud of the horse.
“Rob Hornby had ridden Coltrane in his last couple of starts but was claimed by Ralph [Beckett] to ride his horse, so we then had options, and 5lb over this kind of extreme distance makes a bit of a difference.
“Unfortunately, at the end of Coltrane’s three-year-old career he had quite a nasty injury, and he’s still got a plate and some screws. We were a bit worried about the ground today, but he has handled it well. He’s a tough horse and a bit of a yard favourite – the sort of horse anyone can ride, very laid-back and a real favourite.
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“An Ebor run might be possible but anything’s possible. He’s in the Queen Alexandra here but, having run in this heat, it would probably be asking a bit much to run him again. We’ll see how he is and make a decision nearer the time.”
Trainer Mullins labelled jockey Ryan Moore’s ride of Bring On The Night as ‘fabulous’ but conceded the combination of Hutchinson and Coltrane was too much. He said: “Bring On The Night got to the front and we were just beaten by a better horse on the day.
“There are no quibbles. He is in on Saturday and we will see how he comes out of this.”
