Grace Harris will carry Welsh hopes at Royal Ascot this week when her small budget horse nicknamed “Eddie” will mix it with those of the richest owners in the sport.
Exclamation is the official name of the two-year-old which trainer Harris will run in Thursday’s Norfolk Stakes over five furlongs.
With a modest £27,000 price tag, and from a Monmouthshire yard that stables just 26 horses – up from only ten a couple of years ago - the set-up is a world away from the operations owned by Arab sheikhs and other assorted billionaires.
But after the Royal Procession has made its way down the course at the start of racing, Harris is hoping “Eddie” will prove more than steady.
“He’s different from anything I’ve trained before,” says Harris, from Newport, who will be making her own first appearance at Royal Ascot.
“He’s very precocious for a two-year-old and has a very calm temperament. We know that he’s now going up against the big guns, but you never know.”
Exclamation made his debut in the prestigious Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster in March and finished third.
He was slow away, losing five to six lengths at the break, having been distracted by the crowd on his racecourse debut. But he powered home late, closing to finish just 1¾ lengths behind the winner.
“He played up really badly on his way into the stalls, but it was a bit like his first day at school,” adds Harris.
“But he finished so strongly and it was then I thought, ‘Wow, we’ve got something here,’”.
“We knew he was green and there are still areas where we would like to improve, but he then ran well to finish second at Chester.
“He’s growing and learning all the time. His form is solid. We know what we’re up against, but he gives us a real chance.”
To have a Royal Ascot runner is, for many in Flat racing, the dream.
For Harris and her team, based in Shirenewton near Chepstow, it’s become reality.
“It’s fantasy land,” Harris admits, barely able to believe the journey they have made in the space of a year.
“If you told me 12 months ago we’d be here, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
The excitement has swept through the yard. Everyone is going to Ascot to support “Eddie” for what could be “a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Whatever happens in the race, Harris knows her stable yard team—and her colt—have already achieved something extraordinary.
In a sport where status often comes with a heavy price tag, Exclamation is proving that heart, hard work, and a bit of luck still matter.
As the racing world watches the aristocrats and high-flyers parade at Ascot, one colt from a quiet yard in Wales may just shout loudest of all.
