Naval Crown leads one-two for Appleby in Platinum Jubilee at Royal Ascot

Naval Crown got his revenge on stablemate Creative Force to land a dramatic Platinum Jubilee Stakes for trainer Charlie Appleby and jockey James Doyle at Royal Ascot on Saturday.

The Godolphin-owned pair finished first and second in the Jersey Stakes at the meeting last season but this time the placings were reversed as Naval Crown scored at 33-1.

“Last year it was the other way round in the Jersey,” Doyle told ITV Racing. “They’ve trodden similar paths. It felt like we’d won and I’d be lying if I said I expected him to win but we were always hopeful.”

“I could see we were we separated by the width of the track and I was hopeful. We dropped him down in distance – he was fourth in the Guineas so he’s always had a bit of quality,” he added.

Appleby commented: “William [Buick, who rode the runner-up] rode a piece of work on both the other day and said ‘I have a job on to split them’. They’re both tough horses and they have a habit of finishing first and second.”

Broome swept trainer Aidan O’Brien to a remarkable 900th Group/Graded winner under both codes with an awesome display of front-running in the hands of Ryan Moore to take the Hardwicke Stakes.

Though last season’s Irish Derby and St Leger winner Hurricane Lane was sent off the 8-11 favourite for the mile-and-a-half Group Two feature at Royal Ascot, he appeared to be carrying a little condition for his first run of the season on ground quicker than ideal and Moore’s aggressive tactics from a wide draw worked to perfection, as he took the sting out of Charlie Appleby’s runner.

The 6-1 chance, who landed the Group One Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in July last year, kept grinding and as Hurricane Lane wilted, Mostahdaf and Jim Crowley gave chase, but found the winner three