The Ballydoyle team had already won gold on day two of the May Festival thanks to Mount Kilimanjaro in the Dee Stakes, and Illinois was well-liked in the betting market despite having a penalty on his seasonal debut. On Wednesday, they had won the Chester Vase and the Cheshire Oaks with Lambourn and Minnie Hauk, respectively. With the four-year-old finishing in second place and Al Qareem leading the field of six runners in the mile and five-furlong race, the Galileo colt’s victory appeared to be rather simple in the end. With a few of furlongs left to run, Illinois gave chase before slinking up that one’s inside and gaining the lead as the front-runner began to fade out of the rear.
Willie Mullins’ 15/8 chance forced Absurde to settle for third place, half a length behind the runner-up. Absurde was still doing well enough for William Buick to close the gap and get within a few lengths, but Illinois had something up his sleeve and stuck to the task well to hold the rallying Al Qareem (7/1) by a length and a quarter. O’Brien became the most successful trainer in the Group 3 event, surpassing Sir Michael Stoute with his eighth career victory in the Ormonde. “He’s a very good horse, he didn’t do anything wrong last year,” Moore stated on ITV Racing. He won on Arc Day (Prix Chaudenay), finished second in the Leger, and won at Royal Ascot.
He is a highly reliable horse. He is a powerful and enormous beast. He won with a penalty there, and the well-run race has worked out well for him, even though the terrain was perhaps a little bit slower than ideal for him. He will undoubtedly get better for the run. Illinois is 8/1 from 14/1 for the Coronation Cup at Epsom early next month, according to Paddy Power and Betfair.
