Frankel, Black Caviar headline Royal Ascot meet

Darryl Sherer

Black Caviar will go for win No. 22 in a row in the Diamond Jubilee.

From start to finish, the five-day Royal Ascot meeting that begins Tuesday is loaded with superstars.

The highlight of the first day is the appearance of the undefeated champion Frankel in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes over a mile. Perfect after 10 starts, including the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, England, on May 19, Frankel was a 1-8 shot with bookmakers to win the Queen Anne Stakes as of Friday.

For the record, Excelebration, winner of the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp last September and second to Frankel in the Lockinge, is next in the betting at 6-1.

Frankel is the leading male at Royal Ascot, but there is even more hype surrounding the English debut of the Australian star female sprinter Black Caviar in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes on June 23, the final day of the meeting.

Unbeaten in 21 starts in Australia, Black Caviar is a 1-3 chance to win the Diamond Jubilee, run over six furlongs. Jeff O’Connor, racing manager for trainer Peter Moody, told the British press Thursday that Black Caviar has thrived since arrival in England earlier this month.

“Everything has gone to plan so far with her,” he said. “The boys have been happy, and she has been eating and sleeping normally.

“We’ve covered a lot at home and achieved everything we wanted to achieve there. Coming here is not about the prize money. There’s a prestige in winning at Ascot that is a pretty big thing.”

There are three Group 1 races on Tuesday’s card. The Queen Anne Stakes is the first of six races, followed by the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes over five furlongs and the St. James’s Palace Stakes for 3-year-old colts.

Bated Breath, who won the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock Park last month, is favored in the King’s Stand.

In the St. James’s Palace Stakes, trainer Aidan O’Brien has the leading contender in Power, winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas last month.

O’Brien also may start Daddy Long Legs, who was last of 20 in the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

The O’Brien-trained So You Think and the French star Cirrus des Aigles are the top contenders in Wednesday’s Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes over about 1 1/4 miles on turf. There is an American entrant in the outsider Big Blue Kitten. Trained by Chad Brown for Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, Big Blue Kitten was second in the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland in April.

The Queen of England has a leading contender for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, with Carlton House, third in the 2011 English Derby.

Thursday, Fame and Glory, trained by O’Brien, will be a heavy favorite to defend his title in the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup over 2 1/2 miles.

The top race Friday is the Group 1 Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over a mile. Homecoming Queen, winner of the English 1000 Guineas; Laugh Out Load, first in the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham in France; and The Fugue, third in the English Oaks earlier this month; are among the nominees.