Baaeed – the best horse in the world – romps home in style at Royal Ascot

Baaeed, officially rated the best horse in the world, oozed class in winning the Queen Anne Stakes, the opening race of Royal Ascot 2022. The unbeaten William Haggas-trained four-year-old tracked Real World for much of the contest and the result never looked in doubt.

Jim Crowley’s mount, sent off the 1-6 favourite, quickened with two furlongs to run and the race was quickly over as a contest, allowing Haggas to breathe a sigh of relief, although Real World did his best to keep him honest and lost little in defeat.

Winning jockey Jim Crawley said: “It doesn’t get easier than that. It went very smoothly and I just let him stride out in the last furlong.

“It’s the pinnacle of my riding career. I have spent my whole life waiting for a horse like this to come along. It’s an absoulte pleasure to get on and do the steering.”

Victorious trainer William Haggas, saddling his first Group One winner at the meeting, said: “I thought he won nicely. He looked like he tracked the right horse and didn’t look like he was extended fully.”

In response to whether he would be stepped up in trip from a mile, Haggas said: “[We] didn’t learn a lot [more] but he travels and settles well. I think we are keen to run at York [in the Juddmonte International in August over ten furlongs] and it’s whether we slot in Goodwood [in the Sussex Stakes over a mile] in the meantime.

“He’s obviously a good miler and he’s bred to get further so it would be remiss of us not to try [ten furlongs]. He relaxes very well.”