'Boy' from Brazil ready to take on establishment at Royal Ascot

By James Toney at Royal Ascot

Minas Gerais is not just half a world away from Royal Ascot, it's virtually on another planet.

But Diego Dias's journey from a town made rich in Brazil's 18th-century gold rush to Ireland and then gilt-edged Royal Ascot is already quite the tale.

And a win with the brilliantly named Make Haste could just be one for the screenwriters, perhaps toasted in Cachaça, not champagne. Dias's small Curragh operation had only been licensed for four months when he secured an attention-grabbing winner at Glorious Goodwood last summer.

County Kildare couldn't be more different from Dias's hometown, but this adopted member of the Green Team is loving the opportunities it affords and the welcome he has received.

A victory with his brilliant stable star in the Queen Mary Stakes would put him on a new level - and reward the faith of owners who turned down a €900,000 offer for their pride and joy, such was their belief in the horse and Dias.

Gavin Ryan - who is still looking for his first Royal Ascot winner - admitted he was a passenger in Make Haste's only start, where she lived up to her name with a scorching win at Naas. "It's very exciting, it's only my second year of training and we have a horse like her already, it's hard to believe sometimes," said Dias, whose industry reputation is now gaining mainstream attention.

"When she came into the yard, she was just a Queen, she has an incredible racing mind and she's got an amazing turn of foot. It's all systems go, she's ready and we can't wait. She's certainly a live chance and she deserves her spot as one of the favourites."

Dias - whose father was a trainer - was a work jockey in Goiânia and Rio, riding 175 winners, before moving his life to Ireland to work for trainer Joe Quinn.

"I thought I'd stay just for a year but I fell in love with the place. I feel very at home here, it's a small town but I've been accepted by everyone," he added.

"I thought I’d stay for a year or two but I’m still here 20 years down the line and to be honest I have no plans to go back. I’m happy and settled and Irish racing is a pretty special thing to be part of."

Dias has a growing number of supporters prepared to invest in a trainer - just 42 - whose future looks bright, his natural horsemanship evident to anyone who spends time at his boutique operation.

"Diego can train, he knows what he is doing and when you have a guy who also sits on them as well, you get a fair insight," said Matt Eves, a co-owner of Make Haste, who first glimpsed the training talent of Dias five years ago.

"He has got some future ahead of him, he’s only got a few in training but he's achieving things not many other trainers are doing."

From Punchestown to Leopardstown, Cheltenham to Royal Ascot, it just has to be Willie’s in the lucky last.

Cheltenham Festival wizard Willie Mullins was all smiles as Belloccio and William Buick delivered in the Copper Horse Handicap Stakes, a tenth win at the meeting for the Master of Closutton.

And there could be more Irish success for a more familiar name on Wednesday.

Dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin is the headline act of Royal Ascot's second day - as he prepares to take on some of Europe's top middle distance stars in the showpiece Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

The quirky five-time Group One winner has already bagged nearly €5m in prize money, but Aidan O'Brien will be the first to admit there have been some deep valleys in a career of soaring peaks.

"We've had the Prince of Wales's in mind for him all season and he's come on well in the last few weeks," said O'Brien. "This nice ground is perfect for him too and we're very happy."