This will be the fifth running of this handicap for fillies and mares aged four and above, so trends need much more time to bed in, especially as it took place on the straight course for the first time last year just to muddy the waters further for trends followers.
Four and five-year-olds make up the lion's share of runners (usually around 75%) but given that combined they have won 35 of the last 39 runnings, they have been over-performing, so I am more than happy to overlook any horse aged six and upwards. Sonny Liston has finished runner-up in the last two editions and so is now a six-year-old.
It used to be a case of concentrating on proven Group 1 winners but Byword, Free Eagle, My Dream Boat, Crystal Ocean, Poet’s Word, Lord North and Mosthadaf were all winning at the highest level for the first time when successful here going back to 2010. This season’s renewal is building towards being an above-average running though so it may be a case of only Group 1 winners can apply.
This Group 2 affair for older fillies and mares over the straight mile will be the 22nd running since it was upgraded from a Listed contest run at the September meeting. A number of strong patterns have emerged since its upgrade, none more so than 15 of the last 16 winners being four-year-olds, with the Marco Botti-trained Aljazzi in 2018 being the only outlier.
Since 2017 the Queen’s Vase has taken place over 1m6f rather than 2m, the draw has become more important, as there is a very short run to the first bend, so low numbers are favoured.
War Machine is a five-time winner in Australia overdue for a victory in a big-money race. The landmark win may occur in Friday’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap at seven furlongs at Eagle Farm in Brisbane.
Of the two-year-old races, it wasn’t just the Coventry Stakes last season that saw the 1-2-3-4 sent off at big odds, with the first four home in the Queen Mary all sent off no shorter than 22/1 and led home by Wathnan Racing’s Leovanni, with the racing ownership group also filling the places in the Coventry and winning the Norfolk, so they are very much a team to take note of in the juvenile contests all week.
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Roger Varian is not renowned for trying to make his geese swans when casting his eye over the Royal meeting and invariably picks up a winning prize at Royal Ascot.
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Simon Rowlands reveals his exclusive sectional ratings for the leading two-year-olds in contention for Royal Ascot, nominating five selections as a result.
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The Owning Hill ace has assembled another strong squad as he bids for more glory at the big meeting in Berkshire. Joseph O’Brien has only just turned 32, but he has already put together a remarkable list of accomplishments in horse racing.
