Zac Lloyd enjoys pre-Royal Ascot boost with York sprint success
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sat 13 Jun 2026
Australian rider Zac Lloyd enjoyed the perfect warm-up for his first appearance at Royal Ascot next week as he claimed victory aboard Thunder Call in the £125,000 Churchill Tyres Supporting Macmillan Sprint Handicap at York.
Lloyd is riding in the UK at the invitation of George Boughey and very nearly rode a first winner for the Newmarket handler on the Knavesmire on Friday, with Divine Whisper beaten a short head in a fillies’ novice event.
The 22-year-old put that right 24 hours later as the William Haggas-trained Thunder Call came out of the pack down to the centre of the course to take up the running with two furlongs to go, and the 4-1 shot kept galloping to see off 7-2 favourite Red Spells Danger by half a length.
Lloyd said: “I had a near-miss here yesterday so it was good to finally finish in front for once. I trusted I was on the right horse, he had the right weight. He’s probably looking for seven furlongs now.
“I didn’t want to be boxed in and make him dash up the last furlong and a half so a gap appeared in front of me and I had to ask him to go in there sooner than what we would have liked, but I trusted the horse would go from there and he was a sitting duck two furlongs out.
“Full credit to him, I thought he was gone at the 100-metre mark but he surged again.
“The straight is a bit longer than I would have liked but luckily my horse was game and I won comfortably at the line, but he done most of the work.”
Lloyd is set to ride for a variety of trainers at the Royal meeting, with Wesley Ward’s American raider Fanshell Beach in the Queen Mary Stakes among his booked mounts at this stage.
He is pleased to have the opportunity to acclimatise to racing in the UK for a couple of weeks ahead of the meeting before returning to Australia.
“Confidence is a great thing in a jockey and if you can get it rolling into probably the biggest week in the world it’s not a bad thing,” Lloyd added.
“It’s very different in the UK but I feel I’m adapting. Obviously you need the right horses and I’m lucky and hopefully can find some more fast ones.
“I’m just riding until the end of Ascot. I came over to ride for Charlie Appleby and George Boughey next week and thought I’d get a good understanding of tracks two weeks prior. I’ve got a couple of nice ones next week highlighted by the two-year-old filly in the Queen Mary for Wesley Ward.”
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