Hawk Wing Clipped by Longshot in Queen Elizabeth II

(AP)
Where or When beat favorite Hawk Wing by two lengths Saturday to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.

Where or When, who went off at 7-1, trailed with a furlong to go, but jockey Kevin Darley steered him past the Aidan O'Brien-trained Hawk Wing.

Tillerman finished third, three lengths back.

Coolmore's Hawk Wing, the 1-2 favorite Saturday, has finished second in four of his five races this season. He was the favorite in each.

Darley has won the Queen Elizabeth II stakes twice in the last three years.

O'Brien partially blamed the turf for Hawk Wing's performance.

``It was very dead, rolling ground but I am not going to use that as an excuse,'' he said. ``We'll go home and think about what to do next.''

It was the first Group I win for Where or When and his trainer, Terry Mills, a small-time conditioner who owned a demolition company before turning to horses.

"I can rest in peace now. That's fantastic. You cannot imagine what this means to me," he said, beaming from ear to ear.

"I can die a happy man now, having finally achieved this first Group I winner," said Mills, who trains the horse for bookmaker John Humphreys. "I haven't slept for the last three nights, I've had to be taking sleeping pills. Somebody up there likes me more than my Mum and Dad."

Asked about a trip to America for the Breeders' Cup Oct. 26, Mills told The Racing Post: "Where Or When has had a long hard season and I've got what I want, a Group I ... I will certainly talk about (the Breeders' Cup Turf), but I think that will probably be it for the season."

It was Darley's second group one victory in two weeks after his St Leger win on Bollin Eric at Doncaster.

"(Where Or When) got a free run at them today and showed an electric turn of foot," he said.