No spectators and none of the usual Royal Ascot spectacle, but it’s hard to imagine a more exciting renewal of the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes than Circus Maximus’s minimal victory over Terebellum on opening day of Royal Ascot 2020. Four-year-old filly Terebellum looked a sure winner over 4-year-old colt Circus Maximus when she surged a length in front of him a furlong from the Queen Anne finish, but Circus Maximus and Ryan Moore fought back valiantly and won a head bob to capture the Queen Anne. Circus Maximus won the Group 1 St. James’s Palace Stakes last summer over Ascot’s one-turn-mile course but was equally effective Tuesday on the straight course. Last fall, he scored a narrow victory in the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois before finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. The Queen Anne was his first start since, and trainer Aidan O’Brien had him ready. Circus Maximus made the early lead but was displaced by Marie’s Diamond and sat second through a slow early and middle pace. Terebellum and Frankie Dettori also were prominent though a couple places behind Circus Maximus while always traveling strongly. Terebellum laid down a very strong quarter-mile run into the final furlong to seize command of the Queen Anne, but Circus Maximus was up for a fight. O’Brien said Circus Maximus is “lazy” and wears blinkers to help keep him focused. The colt’s mind only turns fully toward the task at hand when a race hits a boiling point. "Like a fighter, if you don't get his blood up, he doesn't really bother,” O’Brien said. “The pace of the mile races allows him to get his blood up.” Moore rode a strong race to get the money but was suspended two days by Ascot stewards for “using his whip above the permitted level” in the late stages. A marker of the slow-early, fast-late race shape, longshot Marie’s Diamond held third as anything racing from the rear of the field struggled to make ground. Accidental Agent, the 2018 Queen Anne winner, did best finishing fifth, while the well-regarded Mohaather barely had a chance to run while in traffic, checking in seventh. Circus Maximus clocked a somewhat slow 1:40.05 racing over a course downgraded during the day from good to good-to-soft. Owned by Flaxman Stables, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, Circus Maximus is by Galileo out of the good race mare Duntle, by Danehill Dancer. O’Brien said he’ll be pointed to the Sussex Stakes over one mile July 29 at Goodwood. The Queen Anne was a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Battaash gets his King’s Stand After second-place finishes behind Blue Point in the last two editions of the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes, Battaash left everyone behind him this year, storming to a 2 1/4-length victory over Equilateral in the five-furlong, straight-course dash. Battaash ended his 2019 campaign with a dismal showing over very soft going he dramatically disliked in the Prix l’Abbaye de Longchamp but looked like a winner from the opening strides of the King’s Stand. Racing near the stand’s side rail – the best part of the Ascot course Tuesday – Battaash was prominent from the start under Jim Crowley, who bagged three wins Tuesday. Crowley sat chilly until only 1 1/2 furlongs of racing remained, asked Battaash for run that he readily supplied, and cruised home the easiest of winners. :: Royal Ascot 2020: Get PPs, previews, analysis, recaps and more Equilateral came late to just gain second over Liberty Beach. Glass Slippers, who’d easily won the Abbaye last fall, raced on the wrong side of the Ascot course and finished a tame fifth. Charlie Hills trains Battaash for Hamdan al Maktoum. The 6-year-old gelding, now an 11-time winner from 21 starts, is by Dark Angel out of Anna Law, by Lawman. Good day for Gosden Trainer John Gosden took a tough beat with Terebellum in the Queen Anne but won two other stakes on the Tuesday card as Frankly Darling landed the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes and Nazeef came out on the right side of a tight photo in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge. Frankly Darling was Gosden’s 50th Royal Ascot winner and looked like a prime contender for the Oaks on July 4 at Epsom. Gosden, jockey Frankie Dettori, and owner Anthony Oppenheimer made it two Ribblesdales in a row, Frankly Darling’s success following Rally Catcher’s last year. Favored Frankly Darling was making just her third start but managed to get in a prep race for the Ribblesdale winning an all-weather start earlier this month at Newcastle. She was keyed up early in Tuesday’s 1 1/2-mile test but settled during the middle stages, dashed well clear of her competition with a quarter-mile to race, and had plenty in the tank to hold clear a run from Ennistymon, winning by 1 3/4 lengths. "This filly has got some lungs,” Dettori said. “We were burning plenty of petrol in the first half of the race as she was over-racing a bit, but I managed to slow her down turning for home and she had every chance of stopping if she wanted to but she kept finding.” Frankly Darling is a daughter of Frankel and Hidden Hope, by Daylami. It was Jim Crowley doing the honors on the Gosden-trained Nazeef in the one-mile, straight-course Duke of Cambridge. Crowley rode Nazeef with utmost patience and confidence, sitting many lengths behind the lead group before beginning a steady run with about 2 1/2 furlongs remaining. Nazeef came to Agincourt with 200 yards left to race and edged in front as the runner-up battled back bravely, falling a head short. Nazeef, a 4-year-old filly by Invincible Spirit out of Handassa, by Dubawi, was one of three winners on the card for Hamdan al Maktoum, who won the King’s Stand with Battaash and the Buckingham Palace Handicap with Motakhayyel. * Pyldriver upset the Group 2 King Edward Stakes as odds-on favorite Mogul, perhaps badly in need of a comeback run, finished a one-paced fourth. Pyldriver won the 1 1/2-mile race for 3-year-olds by two lengths over Mogul's Aidan O'Brien-trained stablemate Arthur's Kingdom. Martin Dwyer rode Pyledriver, a son of Harbour Watch and Le Pyle, for trainer William Muir.