Set Fair For A Thrilling Week

[Wandering Eyes]

For once, the elements have conspired to deliver a perfect spell of British summer for Royal Ascot week and the halcyon days begin on Tuesday with the G1 Queen Anne S. Aidan O’Brien is currently on 61 winners at the meeting and he conspires with Ryan Moore as the G1 Lockinge S. winner Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) looks to beat the colts in that feature and establish herself in the fellowship of the likes of Tepin (Bernstein) and Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa). “We were very happy with what she did in the Lockinge,” O’Brien commented. “Given it was her first really competitive run over a mile since the 1000 Guineas last year, I was impressed how well she coped with what was a well-run race. Sometimes it can take a horse a while to fully adjust to running back over a mile after running over middle-distances, so it wouldn’t be a big surprise if she could improve from Newbury.”

O’Brien is still 14 off the all-time record shared by Sir Michael Stoute and the late Sir Henry Cecil and the former kicks off his week with Shadwell’s Gabr (GB) (Intello {Ger}) in the G1 St James’s Palace S. as he looks to surpass his great friend and rival. He also supplies Juddmonte’s exciting Mirage Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the closing Listed Wolferton S., which looks particularly strong this year.

Frankels To Flourish On Fast Ground…

Frankel adored Ascot and fast ground and that combination could see his progeny really take off over the next five days, beginning with his Without Parole (GB) in the St James’s Palace.

While Without Parole has only won a listed race, having beaten Gabr in the Heron S. at Sandown May 24, he is held in the highest regard by John Gosden and there is a sense of the predestined at a golden time for John Gunther. His owner-breeder has made no secret of what a win at this meeting would mean to him and although he lacks group-race conditioning, so did a certain Justify (Scat Daddy) earlier this year. “It’s been an incredible journey the Triple Crown, especially the last race,” he explained. “I do think having another homebred runner at Royal Ascot is something else, though. I’ve been dreaming of having a horse run at Royal Ascot for many years and for this to happen in the same year as breeding a Triple Crown winner is quite a journey. Running him in the St James’s Palace Stakes will be one of the biggest moments of my life. I’m not taking anything away from the Triple Crown, but this race means more to me.”

Gosden is keeping cool about potentially the day’s most exciting runner. “I still think those horses that have performed at group one level over a mile are ahead of him,” he said. “He is a progressive horse, but they set the standard and the bar pretty high. He went to Sandown on a minimum of work. This horse is still learning a lot about life as he only had one run as a two-year-old. He is more on the curve up and he hasn’t achieved what others have yet.”

Rising Stars Out in Force…

TDN Rising Stars to feature on day one are Godolphin’s Benbatl (GB), who brings the Dubawi (Ire) factor into the Queen Anne and Khalid Abdullah’s awesome Newmarket maiden scorer Calyx (GB), who would provide Kingman (GB) with a dream result from his first crop in the G2 Coventry S. “He is full of himself,” trainer John Gosden said. “He didn’t have to travel far at Newmarket, he was just down the road and home. He has got a lot of ability. We are there and we will give it a go. He is a grand horse and deserves a chance.” His chief opponent is Sergei Prokofiev whose sire Scat Daddy boasted a 50% strike rate from his eight representatives 12 months ago. David Anderson considers the latter to be the best his farm had bred and “very special” as he takes a Caravaggio-style profile into one of the meeting’s increasingly more-important races. “He is a horse with an awful lot of natural ability, but he’s been babyish so far and still has more to learn,” trainer Aidan O’Brien said of him. “He should continue to improve as he gains experience and is obviously a horse to be excited about.”

Scat Daddy’s son No Nay Never has lives chances from his first group with the Woodcote winner Cosmic Law (Ire), The Irish Rover (Ire) and No Needs Never (Ire) making up a three-pronged challenge for the Coventry honours. Other TDN Rising Stars with prominent chances are Lady Aurelia, another of the Scat Daddy crew who chases a third straight Royal victory and a second in the G1 King’s Stand S. and her rival Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) who represents the potent Appleby-Buick combination.

Strong Foreign Challenge…

Overseas interest is brought by a live French challenger in Recoletos (Fr) (Whipper) and Bill Mott’s big hope Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) in the Queen Anne and Godolphin’s Wootton (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) who bids to turn around his fortunes after a disappointing fourth in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains in the St James’s Palace. “Wootton is in great form,” trainer Henri-Alex Pantall said. “His final piece of work was very good. He is exactly where we want him to be in terms of physical condition and fitness. He is maturing mentally all the time and has made good progress.” As usual, a host of Irish runners are here with Ballydoyle the eye of what could prove a perfect storm for the neighbouring country. In the St James’s Palace, Rosegreen have a trio headed by last year’s champion juvenile US Navy Flag (War Front) who continues to race his way back to a peak that saw him become the first since 1982 to pull off the G1 Middle Park S.-G1 Dewhurst S. double. He has a wide draw to contend with, but he has Ryan Moore to offset that handicap and form from the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas has always taken precedence over all else in this prestigious mile test. His stablemate and TDN Rising Star Gustav Klimt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) also took part in that May 26 Curragh Classic and he is set to start off at big odds with little obvious reason for turning around a 3 1/2-length beating by compatriot Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}).

Heavyweight Speed Duel…

In the King’s Stand, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) has recently been ousted from ante-post favouritism by Lady Aurelia but he beat several of these including Washington DC (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Kachy (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) under a penalty in the G2 Temple S. at Haydock May 26 and rates the fastest sprinter in Europe. “He had to do it the hard way at Haydock and probably just got a little bit tired in the last 50 yards,” trainer Charlie Hills said. “He had a nice quiet week after that and seems to have freshened up nicely.” Wesley Ward said of Lady Aurelia, “She’s bucking and kicking, which is just what you want to see as she’ll need to be every bit as good as she ever was to get the job done again. She loves it here and she thrives here. It should be a great race and that’s what racing is all about.” Interestingly, Moore has abandoned Washington DC in favour of Different League (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) who captured last year’s G3 Albany S. here.

The Moore Factor…

Ryan Moore excels here on favoured horses, but his record below group level is also outstanding and he is on the Willie Mullins-trained Chelkar (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}) in the Ascot H. and Yucatan (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) for Ballydoyle in the Wolferton. Jamie Spencer excels on the straight track and he is on the unexposed Balmoral H. winner Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper) for the David O’Meara stable in the Queen Anne. William Buick is another rider who is becoming a specialist here and he rides some intriguing outsiders including the impressive Wolverhampton winner White Desert (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the Ascot H., while James Doyle has some interesting mounts including the top-class Queen Anne quandary Limato (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}), the imposing Coventry outsider Blown By Wind (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Fabricate (GB) (Makfi {GB}) for The Queen in the Wolferton. It will be “hat’s off” in the last if that Michael Bell favourite prevails in the Royal colours.

 

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