Almaqam (GB)

Wednesday's declarations have been made for Royal Ascot and fortunately there were no surprise withdrawals in the main events, with the French superstar Daryz (Sea The Stars) set to go head-to-head in the G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes with last year's winner Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder). Eight will line up for the 10-furlong feature, with Juddmonte's Kalpana (Study Of Man) the only notable name to not be put forward with the Hardwicke the preferred option. Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's Tattersalls Gold Cup hero Almaqam (Lope De Vega), Ballydoyle's Minnie Hauk (Frankel) and Jeff Smith's...

Ed Walker has long sung the praises of Almaqam (Lope De Vega) and although the elusive Group 1 win took its time coming, it all fell into place for the stable star on Sunday as he bossed The Curragh's G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. Making his seasonal return in the 10 1/2-furlong prize, Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's homebred who had last been seen finishing third in the Champion Stakes in October was moved up to shadow the Ballydoyle pacemaker with Kieran Shoemark confident in his readiness. Taking command approaching the two-furlong...

Saturday's G1 Qipco Champion Stakes featured the winners of all the big 10-furlong prizes in 2025, but in the end it went to the horse who had still to win over the trip. While Calandagan (Gleneagles) was in danger of being pigeon-holed as a mile-and-a-half performer following his wins in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and King George this summer, The Aga Khan Studs homebred went through Ascot's test with ease under Mickael Barzalona. Swooping wide approaching the final furlong, the 15-8 second favourite powered to the line to beat...

Saturday's G1 Qipco Champion Stakes will feature all the big guns, with Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), Delacroix (Dubawi), Calandagan (Gleneagles) and Economics (Night Of Thunder) set for a memorable showdown. There will be 11 in the line-up for the feature, where the draw has not been kind to Ombudsman and Economics in nine and 10 respectively but has been to the race's most intriguing runner Almaqam (Lope De Vega) in stall one. There will be 16 lining up for the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, with Juddmonte and the Gosdens'...

Arc clues were in abundance at ParisLongchamp on Sunday and the first piece of the puzzle was put in place by Japan as Byzantine Dream (Epiphaneia) upstaged the Euro contingent in the G2 Qatar Prix Foy. Earning the special voyage with a win in Riyadh's G2 Red Sea Turf Handicap and a second in the G1 Tenno Sho Spring, Kazumi Yoshida's four-year-old was sprung from his cover by Oisin Murphy to overwhelm the 8-5 favourite Sosie (Sea The Stars) in the final yards and record a half-length success. "He has...

Having promised to make his presence felt in the better middle-distance contests for a while, Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's Almaqam delivered on Thursday evening in Sandown's G3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes. Taken to the front early by Oisin Murphy, the 7-4 second favourite predictably faced his sternest challenge from the 5-4 market-leader Ombudsman inside the last two furlongs but stayed on strongly to end that rival's unbeaten sequence by 1 3/4 lengths. This win came at the track at which the apple of Ed Walker's eye had wowed 12 months ago...

He has been out of action since his powerful display in the G2 Dante Stakes in May, but Isa Salman Al Khalifa's Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) has never been too far from the news given his obvious potential and so it is with more than a small sense of anticipation that the purists await his comeback in Thursday's G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville. Some of racing's kingpins have won this 10-furlong staging post in recent years, namely Almanzor (Fr), Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), Dubai Honour (Ire)...

Sunday saw the confirmations for 2024 Royal Ascot's opening day fixture, where the G1 St James's Palace S. is the rightful stage for the coming together of the 2,000 Guineas, Irish 2,000 Guineas and Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroes Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) and Metropolitan (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}). The latter has been supplemented for the mile contest and is joined by fellow French raider Darlinghurst (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), while Ballydoyle rely on last year's G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. hero Henry Longfellow (Ire)...