Black Type Thoroughbreds Wants Another Shot at Royal Ascot Glory

[Wandering Eyes]

Jake Ballis didn't know quite what to expect when he sent Crimson Advocate (Nyquist) to the 2023 Royal Ascot meet, where she won the GII Queen Mary Stakes. He says now it was one of the most exciting days of his life, and he has vowed to get back there every day since.

Ballis, who heads the Black Type Racing partnership, couldn't find a runner in 2024 that he thought could win at one of the most competitive meets in the world. But he never stopped looking.

“It was probably the greatest racing experience I've ever had,” Ballis said. “It's an unbelievable experience. We wanted to find another horse and do it again. I'm not doing it just to say we had a participant. It needed to be one that we thought had a chance over there. Running against 25 other horses is not an easy task. We have partners that have wanted to run there, especially after we won. We were just trying to find the right one to take us back there.”

This time around, he found his horse. Black Type has purchased Azizam, (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) a first-out winner at Hamilton Park in Scotland in his debut.

“Why did we buy him? It was the way the horse finished,” Ballis said. “The jock flashed him the stick and he just took off. You can see that he was rank early and he was getting no cover. Once they started going up the hill, the jockey asked him and he had a really nice turn of foot. That was the main thing that caught our eyes. The sire, Havana Grey, has been very, very good. Go back a few years and I wouldn't be looking to buy a turf sprinting colt. But after we won at Ascot in 2023, I wanted to go back. Last year, we looked and couldn't get anything done. Now this horse came around and we're going to take a shot.”

Azizam will remain in the barn of Karl Burke for his next start before he is sent to the U.S., where he will join George Weaver's stable. Weaver also trained Crimson Advocate.

“We've been looking for something to buy to go over there,” Ballis said. “Whether we bought it in the States or over there, that didn't matter. I have a friend named Adam Potts, who works for BBA Ireland. So we will bounce horses off of one another and I look to get his opinions on European horses. If he sees something, he'll send it to me. He was the first one who brought this horse to my attention. I wasn't watching European racing that day. I watched the replay, and I sent the replay over to my wife who helps buy our horses and then to George Weaver. We all agreed it was worth taking a shot.”

He said he's not going back just to be able to say that he had a horse run at Royal Ascot.

“It costs too much money to buy these horses and with the expenses and the shipping just to go over there to have a party,” he said. “We're happy that we are going to be there, but we don't want to do anything just to say we participated. We're going to try to pick the right spot for him over there, a spot where he can win.”

Ballis said that Azizam will most likely start in the June 18 Windsor Castle Stakes.

Once back in the U.S., Azizam will be pointed to the Kentucky Downs meets, where he could land in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint.

The stable was planning on using John Velazquez, but with Outfielder no longer making the trip to Royal Ascot, Velazquez has decided to stay home. Ballis said it is likely that Luis Saez will pick up the mount.

“We're going to keep trying this because it's an incredible place to visit and it was one of the best experiences we ever had,” Ballis said. “Even if we hadn't won with Crimson Advocate we would be trying to get back. That's how special that place is.”

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