LONDON - Last October, jockey Clifford Lee came within a "millimetre" of dying when he broke a vertebra in a motorbike crash, on Friday he rode Venetian Sun to victory in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.
The 30-year-old Englishman was out of action for five-and-a-half months after the accident, with the surgeon saying "he was within less than a millimetre of killing himself".
Lee gave Venetian Sun a fine ride in the Group One race, a year to the day that the filly owned by Premier League side Brighton's owner, Tony Bloom, won the Albany Stakes at the meeting.
"It is fantastic," said Lee.
"I had five and a half months off as I broke my C1, but I feel I have come back stronger and better.
"It helps riding good horses.
"It was very hard as it took me a long time to actually get back fit.
"It is great to be back."
Aidan O'Brien was to win the other Group One race on the card, racking up Royal Ascot win number 101, as his star filly Precise made it six wins from eight races in the Group One Coronation Stakes.
For jockey Ryan Moore, it was his 97th Royal Ascot triumph.
As for O'Brien, it was doubly pleasurable as he bred the winner, and also a perfect day for the horse's part-owner, Michael Tabor, to make his first appearance of the week.
"I have been nursing a heavy cold from the Derby and at my age, it takes longer to get over it," said Tabor.
"There is one happy breeder, but he is very shy," joked Tabor as O'Brien stood beside him.
- 'Here baby' -
O'Brien, as ever, had been very reluctant to talk himself up after he brought up the 100 on Thursday, paying tribute to the team.
"Aidan is very much his own man and as he says quite rightly, it is a team game," said Tabor.
"Like in business, if you do not have the right people around you, it falls flat, but he has a great team, he is good at delegating and he is the leader of that team."
O'Brien moved to six winners for the week when Causeway won the King Edward VII Stakes.
He will, though, face a battle royal with his eldest son Joseph on the final day as to who emerges as the leading trainer for the week.
Joseph moved on to five when the 33-year-old Green Carrera won the Sandringham Stakes.
Jockey Billy Loughnane and trainer George Boughey will hope Libertango goes on to repeat Venetian Sun's success as they teamed up to win the Albany Stakes.
Loughnane, 20, came from the clouds, weaving his way through the 25-runner field to overhaul favourite Sun Goddess and record the fifth Royal Ascot winner of his career.
Boughey, who teamed up with the man he calls his "younger brother," Loughnane, to win the feature race on Tuesday, the St James's Palace Stakes, admitted it had not been "pretty" to watch.
He was, though, delighted that Turkish owner Ibrahim Araci's determination to buy the horse in April had been rewarded so quickly.
"He was pretty bold, Mr Araci–– he wanted to get the horse, and he had to pay for it (£400,000, $530,000)," said Boughey.
Three years ago, William Haggas trained a winner for Britain's King Charles III at the meeting; however, on Friday, he denied the monarch his first victory of the week.
James McDonald on the Haggas-trained Opportunity, owned by the Emir of Qatar's Wathnan Racing, seized his and ran down the King's Warrant Holder to win the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes.
"The King and Queen will have more chances, probably more than I will," said crack New Zealand jockey, James McDonald.
"I am here, baby and enjoying it," added the 34-year-old.
By Henry Nicholls
- Article by AFP