Royal Ascot

Barraston Racing's 5-year-old handicap regular American Affair (Washington DC) had not set foot in black-type territory until last month and stepped forward to claim GI King Charles III Stakes glory for Scotland after another ding-dong cliffhanger. The race is a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar in November. The 11-1 chance finished a close-up fifth behind Mgheera (Zoustar) in Haydock's G2 Temple Stakes and the Jim Goldie trainee's task was made easier when that rival was scratched at the start after losing...

Even without Albert Einstein, Ballydoyle were able to come up with one to completely dominate another seemingly competitive renewal of Royal Ascot's G2 Coventry Stakes on Tuesday. The colt in question was Starspangledbanner's Gstaad, a half-brother to Vandeek who had beaten the yard's much-vaunted filly True Love on debut at Navan last month and generated enough support here to start as the 7-2 favourite. Always travelling strongly up the centre, the bay who at 450,000gns was the top-priced colt at the 2023 Tattersalls December Foal Sale streaked away from two...

There is always a story at Royal Ascot and this year's meeting opener, the G1 Queen Anne Stakes, delivered an immediate slice of drama as Harry Eustace trainee Docklands (Massaat) provided the Newmarket conditioner with a thrilling first Group 1 triumph, by a pixel, despite Australian rider Mark Zahra dropping his whip in the closing stages of the straight one-mile test. The Queen Anne is a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar this coming November. Last year's runner-up, who annexed the Britannia Handicap...

Aidan O'Brien will seek a 10th Gold Cup at Royal Ascot on Thursday, with his prospects whittled down to just Illinois (Galileo) in the meeting's prestige feature. Last year's G2 Queen's Vase winner will take on the Aga Khan Studs representative Candelari (Frankel) from the Francis-Henri Graffard stable and that G1 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier winner is like him a newcomer to these Cup races. Old stagers Trawlerman (Golden Horn) and Sweet William (Sea The Stars) are back again, while the All-Weather Championships Marathon Handicap winner Wonder Legend (Sea The Stars)...

With the exception of Ballydoyle's hot prospect 2-year-old Albert Einstein, there are no key figures missing from Royal Ascot's opening card on Tuesday and the scene is set for the first of the week's moments of truth. With the St James's Palace featuring the winners of the 2,000 Guineas, Irish 2,000 Guineas and "French 2,000 Guineas" and the Queen Anne boasting all the elite milers of Europe and a bit extra, the standard has been met again in the year which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Royal Procession. From...

The Royal Ascot meeting at Ascot racecourse in Berkshire, England will begin streaming, exclusively on Peacock, Tuesday, June 17 at 8:30 a.m. ET and will continue with five-hour shows Wednesday through Friday beginning each day at 8:30 a.m. ET. NBC and Peacock will present a live 4.5-hour Royal Ascot program on Saturday, June 21, starting at 9 a.m. ET. Britney Eurton and Nick Luck host Saturday's coverage on NBC and Peacock, with NBC News' Dylan Dreyer on-site with access to the Royal Enclosure. Steve Kornacki, chief data analyst for NBC...

Ballydoyle's Los Angeles (Camelot) will face eight rivals in Wednesday's G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, with his chief G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup rival Anmaat (Awtaad) set to renew rivalry. Also in the 10-furlong feature are the progressive Map Of Stars (Sea The Stars), Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) and See The Fire (Sea The Stars), with White Birch the only withdrawal. In the supporting races, Luis Saez will partner Lennilu (Leinster) in the G2 Queen Mary Stakes and Flavien Prat is on Tough Critic (Caravaggio) in the Listed Windsor Castle...

Royal Ascot's Tuesday fields have been confirmed, with the key contest on the opening fixture being the 2,000 Guineas rematch between Godolphin's Ruling Court and Juddmonte's Field Of Gold in the seven-strong G1 St James's Palace Stakes. The sons of Justify and Kingman will be met by Wootton Bassett's G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains hero Henri Matisse from Ballydoyle, with the most notable withdrawal being Godolphin's dual Group 1 winner Shadow Of Light. In the opening G1 Queen Anne Stakes, the field of 11 features all the four main protagonists...

Staton Flurry has not let a disastrous first foray into purchasing a Royal Ascot runner stand in his way of ticking off what he describes as 'a bucket list experience' with the leading American-based owner having worked out a deal for Albany Stakes contender Oh Cecelia (Starspangledbanner) on the eve of the meeting.  Flurry may have left it late to guarantee his participation as an owner at this year's meeting but it's nothing compared to last year. After securing the Jack Davison-trained Take Me To Church at the Goffs London...

James McDonald has been recruited by Wathnan Racing to carry their colours during the first three days of Royal Ascot. The star rider will be utilised on an as-needed basis besides first-call jockey James Doyle, with William Buick and Colin Keane also in the mix. McDonald, or J-Mac as he is known Down Under, will have the call on Yulong's Carl Spackler (Lope De Vega) in the  in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes on opening day. Wathnan's racing adviser Richard Brown said, "We're going to have a good-sized team with...

Few trainers have been in better form of late than Ed Walker, who already has nine stakes winners to his name this season. Prior to a busy week at Royal Ascot, the Lambourn trainer has another shot at Classic glory in Sunday's G1 Prix de Diane with American Gal. The Kameko filly, who races for the Drew Family's Mildmay Racing, won the Listed Prix de Lilas over a mile at Chantilly back in early May. "This has been the plan since then, so I just hope the ground doesn't dry...

Amongst a bevy of co-fastest furlong workers, Elenique, a filly from the first crop of multiple graded winner Leinster (hip 412), separated herself from the pack with a bullet quarter-mile work in :20 3/5 during the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Thursday. The Florida-bred chestnut is consigned by RiceHorse Stable and was bred by Aldo DeLuca's DeLuca and Sons Stables. "She always showed us that she was a very fast filly," DeLuca said. "I was preparing her to take her to the...