Were it not for his pesky stablemates, the 4-year-old colt Illinois could be in the midst of a four-race winning streak in advance of Thursday’s Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup on the third of the five-day Royal Ascot meeting in England. Illinois, trained by Aidan O’Brien for the Coolmore syndicate, was beaten a neck by Los Angeles in the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes for 3-year-old stayers at York Racecourse last August and by the same margin by Jan Brueghel in the Group 1 St. Leger Stakes at 1 13/16 miles at Doncaster Racecourse last September. Since then, Illinois has won Group 2 Prix Chaudenay at 1 7/8 miles for 3-year-olds at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris last October, and he prevailed in his first start of 2025 in the Group 3 Ormonde Stakes at 1 11/16 miles at Chester Racecourse in England on May 8. Those results make Illinois a strong favorite in the Ascot Gold Cup at 2 1/2 miles, his first start at the extended distance. As of Monday, there were 10 candidates for the Ascot Gold Cup, one of the most popular races of the week because of its distance. The race starts in front of the stands. :: Royal Ascot 2025: Get PPs, previews, analysis, recaps, and more Illinois, who has won 4 of 10 starts, is in the right hands. O’Brien leads all trainers with nine Gold Cup wins since World War II, including the 2022 and 2024 runnings with Kyprios, who was retired last month because of injury. Kyprios won 17 of 21 starts. O’Brien has another contender in the Gold Cup in Jan Brueghel, who won the Group 1 Coronation Cup Stakes against older horses at 1 1/2 miles on June 6 at Epsom Racecourse. The marathon Gold Cup is a new distance for Jan Brueghel, as well as for Candelari, trained in France by Francis Graffard. A winner of 4 of 5 starts, Candelari rebounded from his only loss, a third in the Group 3 Prix de Barbeville at 1 7/8 miles at Longchamp on April 27, to win his most recent race in the Group 1 Prix Victomtesse Vigier at 1 15/16 miles on May 25 at Longchamp. There, Candelari overcame traffic issues to beat eight rivals by a convincing three lengths. The Gold Cup distance should not be a problem for Trawlerman, a 7-year-old gelding trained by John and Thady Gosden who was second by a length to Kyprios last year. Trawlerman has started once this year, winning the Group 3 Henry II Stakes at two miles at Sandown Park by five lengths as the 4-5 favorite. Royal Ascot has a seven-race program on Thursday beginning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. The Gold Cup is by far the richest race on the program, which includes the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at about 1 1/2 miles. Catalina Delcarpio and Serenity Prayer lead the prospective field for the $339,700 Ribblesdale in their third starts. Both won maiden races to begin their careers and were second in Group 3 stakes in Ireland and York in April and May. Betting on Royal Ascot comes through the World Pool. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.