PRINCESS Zoe has come out of the Gold Cup at Ascot in great form, and we started to ride her out a few days after she came home and the plan is that, once we are happy with the ground, that she will go for the Ebor at York.

It is worth a lot of money and the fact that we can utilise Joey Sheridan’s (5lb) claim in that race, is a big help.

She’ll have top-weight, but she is dropping back into handicap company, and it will be a compressed handicap too which means that she won’t have to give away lots of weight.

Referring back to Ascot, it was touch and go whether we’d run her. I was concerned about the ground and there was more rain expected the night before she ran and in fairness, Ascot did an amazing job with the ground – it was beautiful summer ground, with a great covering of grass.

It rained that morning as I walked it, but I was expecting a great deal more rain the night before the race. But I was happy enough to let her take her chance and I rang Paddy and Philomena, as they had not left Dublin Airport at that stage to tell them to travel over.

Every weather forecast that we checked said there was more rain due before the race, but it never arrived.

I’ll be honest and say that I was never as nervous before a race in my life.

Princess Zoe finishes a brave second to Subjectivist in the Gold Cup at Ascot \ Healy Racing

She is the best horse that we have here, and people might think that we have a big team here, but we don’t and we rarely have more than 15 riding out.

As a result, you do get very attached to them and we know them all inside out.

I knew in the weeks leading up to Ascot, that she was getting back to her best. Her preparation beforehand had gone very well and I knew that she had improved a lot since her last run at Gowran Park.

On paper, it was one of the best-ever renewals of the race, with an Irish Derby winner, a Melbourne Cup winner, along with Stradivarius who had won the race three times and the winner Subjectivist, who is the new kid on the block – I was aware before the race, just how good he was.

Throughout the race, I never took my eyes off our filly and just inside the two-furlong pole, I felt my legs go weak, as I thought she was going to win as she weaved her way through the field. If only there was a camera on me at that stage.

Proud

But at the furlong pole the winner had flown, but she ran a huge race – without a doubt, a career best and she ran right to the line. Being there in Ascot on Gold Cup Day was massive and when she passed the line, I was immensely proud her, as she gave her all.

Winning last year in France was huge, but this was on a different level altogether. I watched the race on the big screen with Maggie Hassett in front of the stands, close to the line, and as soon as they passed the line, all I wanted to do, was to get back to the parade ring and make sure that she came back sound. When I saw her pull up sound, that was huge and once she cooled off after the race, I started to relax a small bit, but my heart was still ponding at that stage.

It took a while to be able to relax, but that is why we do what we do, and she left everything on the pitch.

Princess Zoe and Joey Sheridan will head for the Ebor in York \ Healy Racing

I posted a short video of her after the race, and I have to say, the way people have taken to her, has been a very humbling experience and the reaction to the material posted on Twitter has been amazing.

We get replies from all over the world and there is no doubt that she has struck a chord with racing people everywhere.

I made the decision to drive the lorry to Ascot myself and I learned one thing that we’ll never travel her home again straight after a race. Jackie Carter who rides her all the time made the journey over too and she adores the mare.

Princess Zoe ran her heart out over two and a half miles and from Ascot to home, it was a 16-hour journey.

She arrived home at nine the following morning, but she was very tired when she came home.

She went straight out to the paddock and Gillian O’Brien did some work with her that week, and she was back to herself in a couple of days later, but regardless of where she runs, she will stay over that night and travel back the following day.

It was gas when were on the road with her. Every two hours she’d kick the door of the horsebox. We pulled in to make sure that she was okay and each time, she had a drink of water. When she kicked the box, she was looking for a drink.

That was repeated every two hours the whole way home.

Great atmosphere

Paddy and Philomena have been brilliant, and they thoroughly enjoyed Ascot.

There was a small crowd in Paris last year when she won the Cadran, but there was a great atmosphere at Ascot and they got a huge kick out of how well she ran over there.

Paddy will hopefully have a busy summer, as Party Playboy is pencilled in to return to the track at Leopardstown on Thursday.

I think Patrick will ride him. It has been a long road to get him back, but we are nearly there with him.

He was second in an English Cesarewitch, and Paddy loves this horse and if Leopardstown goes well, we will look at the amateur handicap at Galway, the same race that Princess Zoe won last year. He hasn’t run since November 2019, but on his day, he is a very good horse and it is great to have him back.