The formidable horse racing segment in the country of Japan has dreamed about winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for years, and Wednesday in England a horse named Japan takes what his connections surely hope is a first step toward the 2020 Arc. :: Royal Ascot 2020: Get PPs, previews, analysis, recaps and more The 4-year-old colt Japan is an early odds-on favorite to win the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes, the featured race on Day 2 of the Royal Ascot meeting. Japan made a strong impression at Royal Ascot in 2019, when he won the Group 2 King Edward Stakes by more than four lengths. From there, he went to France to win the Grand Prix de Paris, and returned to England to upset the excellent older horse Crystal Ocean in the Group 1 International Stakes. Japan had his backers in the 2019 Arc, but probably didn’t love very soft ground at Longchamp and checked in fourth. Seven others are entered in the Prince of Wales’s, a 1 ¼-mile race carded as the fourth of seven Wednesday. Post time for the feature is 10 a.m. Eastern with the opener set for 8:15 Eastern. American-style past performances are available at www.drf.com, with much more Royal Ascot information at www.drf.com/royal-ascot. You can watch live and wager at DRFbets.com. :: Start earning weekly cashback on your wagering today. Click to learn more. Japan, a son of Galileo and Shastye, by Danehill, will have Ryan Moore in the irons for trainer Aidan O’Brien. Japan could find Barney Roy a worthy opponent. Barney Roy as a 3-year-old at Royal Ascot in 2017 won the St. James’s Palace Stakes, and he is now well into the second phase of his racing career, which ended temporarily when he went to stud following his 3-year-old season and resumed after he was found to be infertile. Barney Roy made no impression in the Queen Anne Stakes a year ago at the Royal Ascot meeting, but had an excellent winter in Dubai, where dominated decent competition in a pair of stakes races before his major goal, the Dubai Turf, was lost to COVID-19 with the Dubai World Cup cancellation. The flat, turning course at Meydan in Dubai is nothing like the conditions Barney Roy faces Wednesday, but his previous success over the Ascot course suggests he might come close to his peak form. Headman was the only other horse offered at single-digit odds by British bookmakers Monday, when he was listed at 5-1. Roger Charlton trains Headman, a Kingman colt, for breeder Khalid Abdullah, and last year at age 3, Headman put together a three-race winning streak before finishing fifth in the Irish Champion Stakes, his final start of 2019. The Prince of Wales’s distance suits him and Headman wouldn’t be troubled if rain turns the course wetter than Monday’s designation, “good.” :: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Addeybb moves up on a rain-softened course and could fill out the exacta behind Japan under such conditions. Mehdiyaah, Frankie Dettori riding for John Gosden, appears to prefer the top of the ground. ◗ Wesley Ward has his first runners of this Royal Ascot meet in the listed Windsor Castle Stakes, a five-furlong straight-course dash for 2-year-olds that Ward won in 2009 with Strike the Tiger and in 2014 with Hootenanny. Ward entered two in the Windsor Castle, with Sunshine City, Dettori named to ride, a shorter price than Sheriff Bianco, who will have Oisin Murphy in the saddle. Sunshine City, a Ken and Sarah Ramsey homebred, was a debut winner over dirt at Gulfstream Park and is bred to improve on grass, while Sheriff Bianco finished second in a Churchill Downs dirt maiden race. Sunshine City gets a five-pound weight allowance as a filly facing colts and geldings.