Picture: Dylan Cunha (Credit: Edward Whitaker)
“I would take a Royal Ascot winner over a Group winner at this stage.”
At The Races
Royal Ascot has the ability to transcend globally and for South African Dylan Cunha there is nothing he craves more than an elusive first winner at Flat racing’s marquee meeting.
A top-level winner in his homeland, with the unique achievement of training a winner at every track in South Africa, he is now fully embedded into Newmarket having arrived in racing’s heartland amidst the Covid-19 pandemic in late 2020 via a decade in the skies as a pilot.
Now more commonly associated with aeroplanes of the equine kind as a popular and established part of the furniture on the British scene, he is eager to make his mark on the grandest stage.
Cunha said: “A Royal Ascot winner is the one thing we really want and I would take a Royal Ascot winner over a Group winner at this stage. That’s how much it means and Royal Ascot means the world.
“We obviously try to target all the big festivals, whether that’s Ascot, York, Epsom, but Royal Ascot is the one where the whole world is watching and it really is the Olympics of racing.
“Everyone in the world watches it and it’s massive in South Africa. A lot of South Africans actually come over for it.”
Cunha has hit the headlines in his adopted home previously with Coolmore cast-off turned Group Two-winning miler Prague, while the Arsenal devotee has also shown his versatility as a trainer by saddling Mahon’s Glory to place over the Grand National fences during the winter months.
However, with a recent double at York’s Dante meeting signalling there is now a touch of class added to his growing Phantom House Stables string, he heads to the Royal meeting with a select quintet primed for the big occasion.
“We’ve got a small team and it will be the right horses in the right races, we’re not just taking horses for tickets,” explained Cunha. “Like we did at York where we took two up and won we’re hoping we’ve picked the right horses for the right races.
“We don’t like having runners for a day out and unless they are 10-1 or less then I sometimes think what is the point as they are tough to win, everyone is trying their hardest and heading there in top form.
“Even then you are lucky if you get a place, that is how hard it is and we’ll be jumping for joy to get in the top four there.”
The star among the trainer’s small squad could prove to be the improving Arc Ole Ole, who made it three from four when landing the race William Haggas’ Merchant won 12 months ago on the Knavesmire before striking in the King George V Stakes.
Merchant would go on to win at Group level at Goodwood and was talked of as both a St Leger and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe candidate before injury intervened last term. And while there is realism in Cunha’s assessment of his exciting colt, victory at York certainly stoked the flames of aspiration.
“Arc Ole Ole is basically following the same route as Merchant took last year after winning the same race at York,” said Cunha. “He’s a horse who gives us plenty of dreams and we like him a lot.
“I think he has improved a lot since York and really manned up. He was still a bit of a baby at York, but he’s becoming more the finished article now and I’m excited to run him in the King George V.
“Hopefully he’s a bit better than a handicapper in time and the ultimate dream would be get him to the St Leger. But he’s got to go up another 30lb really and needs to get past these steps first.”
He went on: “I think we’ve done the right thing by him and he’s been managed very carefully and has three wins from four runs.
“The benefit for him being in a smaller yard like ours is he will get all the time he needs to maximise his talent.
“We’ve already had two big days out with him at Doncaster and York and now we’re off to Royal Ascot, it’s unreal.”
Joining Arc Ole Ole on the Ascot team sheet is Copper Horse Stakes-bound duo Asgard’s Captain and Cracksman’s brother Fireblade, while three-year-old sprinter Baker Blue has been held back for the perfect opportunity to continue the progress he made on the all-weather during the winter.
Cunha said: “We’ll have Asgard’s Captain and Fireblade in the Copper Horse on the Tuesday. Fireblade is a course winner and Asgard’s has been very unlucky on the track before and they are horses who would be running in races like that even if it wasn’t Royal Ascot.
“We’ve waited for the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes with Baker Blue since he disappointed on heavy ground in France. He’s rated 96 and is a really nice horse and doing really well. He would probably be just ideal for that race.
“I think he’s improved a lot again and we’ve four nice runners who would run nice races in their respective contests whether it was Royal Ascot or not.”
The aforementioned Asgard’s Captain has become something of an unofficial flagbearer of the Cunha string and the perfect advertisement of the handler’s ability given the right stock.
Picked up to run for the Quest Thoroughbreds syndicate for just 18,500 guineas, he has struck eight times since joining Cunha in early 2024, taking his career tally to 10 and going on a journey that has recently encompassed Meydan and will soon arrive at Ascot.
“Asgards Captain has been unreal and he’s a 10-time winner now,” said Cunha. “We got him when he was rated in the 60s and he’s now rated 92. He’s the kind of horse who takes his racing well and can back up quickly.
“He’s a really nice horse who would run through a wall for you, as tough as you get. He runs for a syndicate that started for us and it’s brilliant to give all his owners a day out at Royal Ascot, and an absolute dream for them.”
