This is the second running of this 5f handicap for three-year-olds rated 0-105 won in convincing style last season by the 6/4 favourite (in a 21-runner handicap), Art Power, who ran here off a mark of 97 rather than contest the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup.
Our ideal contender will be a four or five-year-old arriving here off the back of a victory and drawn in double figures - three strong trends for this handicap over 1m4f for older horses. Baghdad hit all the square on the head two years ago when justifying favouritism giving Mark Johnston a fourth win in this race.
This handicap for three-year-old fillies over a mile has been part of Royal Ascot since 2002 but it isn’t that strong a stats race. For the fourth year it is being run as a standard handicap rather than a Listed handicap so to all intents and purposes, it is basically now the fillies’ Britannia Stakes.
Of the big three European versions of the 1000 Guineas, the Newmarket version has fared best being responsible for ten of the last 18 winners and seven of those finished in the first six at Newmarket so that has to the first port of call and starting with Mother Earth who then found just one too good in the French 1000 Guineas when attempting the Classic double. Especially as the second and fourth from Newmarket headed to the Oaks.
Axe returns to the track in Saturday’s $135,730 Eye Liner Stakes at 6 3/4 furlongs at Ipswich Racecourse where he figures to be a second choice behind Amish Boy.
This will be the seventh edition of this Grade 1 race over 6f for three-year-olds which has proved to be such a hit, so race trends are only just starting to bed in hence the lack of pointers in the final summary.
As with the Hampton Court Stakes run over 2f shorter for 3yos, the King Edward VII Stakes, which has been a punter-friendly race with 17 of the last 27 winners starting favourite or second favourite, was a Derby trial last year given the one-off changes to the racing calendar. Back to taking place after Epsom, seven winners since 1989 ran in the Derby.
Introduced into the Royal Meeting 19 years ago, this Group 3 6f race restricted to two-year-old fillies may not be as prestigious as the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes in terms of its official status but it has looked the classier of the two races in recent seasons.
Odds-on favorite Stradivarius was seeking his fourth straight win in the Group 1 Gold Cup on Thursday at Royal Ascot, but he was no match for runaway winner Subjectivist, a 4-year-old upstart who might be turning into the top staying horse in Europe.
There have been plenty of big races with short-priced favorites this week at Royal Ascot. Saturday's feature, the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee over a straight six furlongs, is not one of them.
