Nearly a year of frustrating results ended emphatically on Friday when Fallen for You won her first stakes in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Royal Ascot.
Orfevre, the winner of the 2011 Japanese Triple Crown, is finding racing more difficult as a 4-year-old this year. Winless in his first two starts of the season, Orfevre is part of Sunday’s $3.4 million Orfevre over about 1 3/8 miles on turf at Hanshin Racecourse.
Frankel held up his end of the bargain, delivering a sensational win in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes on opening day of the Royal Ascot meet. Now it is Black Caviar’s turn, as the second international racing superstar to grace the Ascot meeting takes to the track in the closing-day Diamond Jubilee Stakes on Saturday.
The 10th Group 1 stakes win by So You Think in Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot was part of a family day for trainer Aidan O’Brien. His son Joseph won his first career race at Royal Ascot aboard So You Think, who won by 2 1/4 lengths as the 4-5 favorite, edging Carlton House, owned by the Queen of England.
The Group 1 Gold Cup, a 2 1/2-mile race, headlines Thursday’s action at Royal Ascot, with Fame and Glory widely expected to win for the second year in a row.
Frankel started in the first race of the 2012 Royal Ascot season Tuesday, the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, and quickly put his indelible stamp on the five-day meeting, storming to an 11-length victory over Excelebration. The Queen Anne probably was the best race of Frankel’s illustrious career and certainly ranks among the top one-mile performance seen anywhere in a long, long time.
Later this year, So You Think will begin stud duty in Australia. Until then, he has time to add to his record. On Wednesday, he will be a heavy favorite to win the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf at Royal Ascot.
Frankel on one end, Black Caviar on the other: As far as bookends go, the Royal Ascot meeting has done pretty well by itself.
Sunday at Chantilly, Beauty Parlor continues along a path similar to Zarkava's when she starts as the favorite in the Group 1 French Oaks.
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.
