California Chrome would face stiff opposition at Royal Ascot

The races that California Chrome might attempt at the Royal Ascot meeting in June are annually among the toughest flat races of the year in England.

California Chrome finished second in the $10 million Dubai World Cup on Saturday, and the next day, trainer Art Sherman said the colt will be flown to England rather than back to California, as originally planned. Last year’s Horse of the Year and Kentucky Derby winner, California Chrome will be based in Newmarket with trainer Rae Guest.

Sherman, who won’t be involved in California Chrome’s day-to-day care in England, wasn’t certain which races would be targeted, but the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal Ascot meet is one likely target. The Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes on June 17 is run at 1 1/4 miles and is worth approximately $781,460.

Another potential race is the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, run on a straight, one-mile course with a purse of approximately $558,000. The Queen Anne Stakes is the first race on the first day of the Royal Ascot meeting, June 16.

As of Sunday, British and Irish bookmaker Paddy Power had California Chrome as the 4-1 joint favorite with The Grey Gatsby for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. The Grey Gatsby won the 2014 French Derby and was second to Solow in the $6 million Dubai Turf at Meydan on Saturday.

Other prospects for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes include Free Eagle (6-1), who was third in the Champion Stakes at Ascot last October; Adelaide (8-1), who won the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park last August and the Cox Plate in Australia in October; and Tryster (12-1), who has won four consecutive races, all on England’s all-weather circuit. Solow also is listed as a 12-1 chance with Paddy Power for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Other bookmakers take a dimmer view of California Chrome’s chances in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. The British bookmaker Coral offered 10-1 on Sunday.

California Chrome is a 10-1 chance for the Queen Anne with Paddy Power. The favorite is the Hong Kong star Able Friend, at 7-4. Able Friend won the Hong Kong Mile last December and the Group 1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup at Sha Tin on March 15 in his most recent start.

Solow is the 7-2 second choice for the Queen Anne Stakes. Night of Thunder, the winner of the 2014 English 2000 Guineas, is at 5-1. Karakontie, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita last November, is 12-1.

Both the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and the Queen Anne have rich histories. The Prince of Wales’s Stakes has been won by So You Think in 2012, the last of his 10 Group 1 wins; Al Kazeem in 2013; and by the mare The Fugue last year.

In 2012, Frankel won the Queen Anne Stakes, his 11th win in a 14-race undefeated career. Declaration of War won the 2013 Queen Anne Stakes and was third behind Mucho Macho Man in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year at Santa Anita.

Last year, Toronado won the Queen Anne Stakes, the fifth and final stakes win of his career. Toronado, who went to stud in England this year, was eighth behind Karakontie in the BC Mile last November.