In-foal Ahorsewithnoname strikes on final start to give Henderson a royal meeting winner

Mum-to-be Ahorsewithnoname saved the best until last as she signed off her racing career with a runaway success in the Ascot Stakes. 

The eight-year-old, owned by Newbury chairman Dominic Burke and Peter Alderson, will head to the paddocks with the rare distinction of winning over hurdles at Cheltenham and on the Flat at Royal Ascot, and Henderson had no doubt a recent trip to Cracksman had put an extra pep in her step. 

"She's in foal to Cracksman which meant we only had 90 days to run and this was always the plan," said Henderson. "She was very good and William Buick gave her a great ride, but I think the most helpful person in all this has been Cracksman.

"It's amazing, she's been a much sharper filly since she visited him. It was quite evident from early on that she was more on it. It sparked her up and it surprised me. There's nowhere else for her to go, although I wouldn't have minded running her in the Queen Alexandra on Saturday after that, but you might as well go out on a winning note."

Henderson added: "Hopefully she's going to breed some youngsters who are as tough and as brave as she's been. If they are, they'll be fantastic National Hunt horses and, you never know, another Flat one."

Nicky Henderson with William Buick and connections of Ahorsewithnoname after victory in the Ascot Stakes

There was an element of good fortune about the way the gaps opened up for Ahorsewithnoname along the inner, but she did not need a second invitation when they appeared and quickly scampered clear to give Buick his first win of the week at Ascot.   

"I got the run I needed, but she really picked up well and is a high-class mare," said the champion jockey. "Nicky was adamant she was in the best shape he had ever had her in and it has to make a difference she's in foal."

For Henderson it was a fourth winner at the royal meeting and second in the Ascot Stakes after Veiled's success in 2011. 

"It's great these races are still part of the great pageant of this meeting," he said. "We only have a small squad for the summer but it's very special. 

"Cheltenham is our holy grail, but this is undoubtedly the one place on the Flat circuit where you love to have a winner. It's a great place to be."

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