Ascot in the fall did not end well for the colt Los Angeles. Thirteen days after finishing third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Los Angeles struggled home ninth in the Champion Stakes, contested over a very soft Ascot course. The footing will be much firmer – good to firm, in fact – when Los Angeles returns to Ascot for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. The 1 1/4-mile Prince of Wales is the lone Group 1 on the Wednesday program at Royal Ascot, though another Group 1 horse, the filly Cinderella’s Dream, starts in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes. Two American 2-year-olds, Lennilu in the Group 2 Queen Mary and Tough Critic in the Windsor Castle, also are slated to race. Los Angeles, as of Monday, held tepid Prince of Wales favoritism with English bookmakers as bettors were not entirely sold on the sum total of his form. Los Angeles did win the Irish Derby about a year ago, but the two horses behind him, Sunway and Ambiente Friendly, have since gone a combined 9-0-0-3. Los Angeles has started his 4-year-old campaign with two wins, though Anmaat closed good ground to finish second by a half-length in Los Angeles’s Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup last month. Anmaat at a longer price could prove a better bet Wednesday. A 7-year-old owned by Shadwell Estate, Anmaat is reaping the benefits of careful, limited campaigns engineered the last three seasons by trainer Owen Burrows. Anmaat ended his 6-year-old season winning the Champion over that sodden Ascot course but turned in a comparable showing on good going in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, where he closed from last. Nine are entered in the Prince of Wales, and at least two others merit strong consideration. :: Royal Ascot 2025: Get PPs, previews, analysis, recaps, and more Map of Stars comes from France for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. He is a five-time winner from seven starts, and though he lost the Group 1 Prix Ganay on April 27, Map of Stars was beaten a neck by Sosie, who returned with a facile score in the Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan and might be France’s leading older male. Map of Stars didn’t get a clean run in the Ganay and comes to this race fresh, though he’ll find faster ground than he’s ever raced on. Map of Stars’s other defeat was a fourth-place finish in the Group 3 Prix du Prince d’Orange last fall at Longchamp, a race won by Ombudsman, who as of Monday was at about 5-1 odds in the Prince of Wales. A Godolphin homebred trained by John and Thady Gosden, Ombudsman didn’t debut until June of his 3-year-old season in 2024, but he won all four of his starts last year as the Gosdens slowly stepped him up in class. He should improve upon his Brigadier Gerard on May 29 at Sandown, where Ombudsman, racing for the first time since September, finished second by a neck behind the Group 2-placed Almaqam, who got three pounds from Ombudsman and had raced already this year. Ombudsman should have no problem with fast ground. Cinderella’s Dream the cream Cinderella’s Dream should beat seven rivals in the Duke of Cambridge, though the race’s one-mile distance falls short of the nine to 11 furlongs at which she’s raced since a seventh-place finish in the 1000 Guineas in May 2024. Choisya upset Cinderella’s Dream in Dubai this winter but validated that victory capturing the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April, while Cinderella’s Dream went to England and jogged home in the Group 2 Dahlia. Fallen Angel, the Irish 1000 Guineas winner last year, was the solid second choice in Monday’s betting markets, with punters apparently expecting considerable improvement upon a modest comeback run against males in the Group 1 Lockinge. Antepost bettors as of Monday had backed Lennilu into second choice at about 7-1 for the Queen Mary, a straight-course five-furlong dash that drew 25 juvenile fillies. Lennilu, with Luis Saez riding for trainer Patrick Biancone, debuted in April and won a Keeneland dirt race before she cruised to the easiest of victories in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies last month at Gulfstream. The faster the course, the better the chances for American horses at Royal Ascot, and Lennilu has plenty of speed to stay out of trouble. She’s running into a once-started horse, Zelaina, who was being bet like a standout at as low as 2-1 on Monday, a very short price considering the number of Queen Mary runners. Zelaina made even money look like value when she made all the running en route to an easy win in a five-furlong Nottingham maiden race. Trainer George Weaver won the Queen Mary two years ago with Crimson Advocate. On Wednesday, he starts Tough Critic in the Windsor Castle, another five-furlong dash, this one with a field of 24. Tough Critic, with Flavien Prat to ride, won her debut, a Keeneland turf sprint, by more than one length over the odds-on Wesley Ward-trained favorite Longshoreman, though what that means remains uncertain as Longshoreman has yet to run back. ◗ Betting on Royal Ascot comes through the World Pool, where massive handle reduces the late odds fluctuations decried in American betting. The World Pool offers win, show, quinella, omni, trifecta, and treble wagers. The omni requires a bettor to select two horses to finish among the top three. The treble is a parlay-style pick three. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? 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