Selection can land what promises to be one of the best renewals of the midsummer Ascot showpiece for many yearsThat fact that multiple Group One winners Luxembourg and Westover are available at double-figure odds for the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday underlines the exceptional strength in depth in this year’s field, and even in the late absence of Desert Crown, last year’s Derby winner, this still promises to be one of the best renewals of the midsummer showpiece for manyyears.Auguste Rodin and King Of Steel, separated by just half a length when first and second respectively in last month’s Derby at Epsom, head a strong three-year-old challenge, while Emily Upjohn, Hukum and last year’s...
There is little to choose between the top two in the betting at the Curragh and the selection looks a decent bet at 4-1Seamie Heffernan has won 35 races at the highest level for Aidan O’Brien over the last 23 years and only seven of those winners were favourites, which is both an indication of his perennial role as O’Brien’s No 2 rider and a reminder that when it comes to Group One events, jockey bookings are not the most reliable of guides to the relative chances of the yard’s runners.It could be a point to bear in mind again on Saturday when O’Brien will saddle four of the eight runners in the Group One Irish Oaks at the Curragh,...
Before joining the rush to suggest that a 22-year-old conditional rider with 94 rides to their name should be ‘banned for life’, it is probably best to wait for the investigation to concludeIt is, as they say, a very ill wind that blows nobody any good, and the organisers of the Wacky Weekender Festival at Worcester racecourse later this month must be quietly ecstatic that the handicap hurdle for conditional jockeys, which they sponsored at the track last Wednesday, has turned out to be one of the most talked-about races of recent months.For the rest of us, though, it remains a horrible watch, as Dylan Kitts, the rider of Hillsin, sat stock-still all the way up the straight on a...
The first Royal meeting since the monarch’s death will look much the same on the surface but will inevitably feel differentEven in the final years of her reign, when first the Covid epidemic and then failing health prevented Queen Elizabeth II from attending Royal Ascot in person, the late monarch was still a presence at her favourite course during the biggest week of its year. “Even though she wasn’t here last year, she was still at Windsor Castle and watching the whole affair,” Nick Smith, Ascot’s director of racing and public affairs, said this past week. “She did still feel very much part of the event.”The Royal meeting was often said to be the first – and most sacrosanct –...
Owners and trainers want the Italian on their horses but backers still remember his wretched time at last year’s meeting The announcement on Sunday that Desert Crown, last year’s Derby winner, would miss the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot next week after suffering a “minor setback” was a considerable disappointment for all concerned, not least since it arrived just 48 hours after his surge to clear favouritism for the showpiece event on Wednesday’s card following the news that Frankie Dettori had been booked for the ride.Since we only have the bookies’ word for it, it is, of course, entirely possible that the “gamble” on Desert Crown in the latter part of last week was more of a defensive...