Royal Ascot: Americans trying to partake of a traditional racing feast

Nine American runners, including four from perennial participant Wesley Ward, are slated to start during the five-day Royal Ascot meeting that begins Tuesday. And there is more America to the world’s most famous racing meeting than just the horses that recently shipped overseas.

Royal Ascot’s first race, the Group 1 Queen Anne, features an English horse, Modern Games, who has made his mark winning North American races, including the Breeders’ Cup Mile last fall and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in 2021. Modern Games late this week was vying for Queen Anne favoritism with the filly Inspiral, co-trained by the Englishman John Gosden, who began his training career in California in the early 1980s.

Aboard Inspiral – Frankie Dettori, born in Italy, the most famous modern jockey in England, and a member of the Southern California jockey colony this past winter and spring. Dettori plans to retire near the end of 2023 and is treating the season accordingly. Think: Worldwide Tour. He is not going quietly. Dettori just a couple weeks ago won the English Oaks for Gosden and his co-training son, Thady, aboard Soul Sister, and also piloted the filly Emily Upjohn to victory at Epsom in the Group 1 Coronation Cup.

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Dettori not only has the plum mount on Inspiral in the Queen Anne but also rides Chaldean on Tuesday in the Group 1 St. James’s Palace Stakes, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds. Dettori last month rode Chaldean to victory in the English 2000 Guineas.

Tuesday’s third Group 1, the five-furlong King’s Stand, brings out Ward’s first runner this year, the filly Twilight Gleaming, a last-out winner of the Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland and second in the Queen Mary Stakes when she raced at Royal Ascot as a 2-year-old in 2021. Ward failed to win a Royal Ascot race in 2022, his biggest disappointment coming in the King’s Stand, where Golden Pal ran far below his best form.

Ward pioneered the Ascot invasion because his operation puts such a focus on early season 2-year-olds, many of them bred for grass and lacking North American opportunities in late spring and early summer. Ward’s three other horses that shipped are 2-year-olds. American Rascal, easily the most impressive 2-year-old during Keeneland’s spring meeting in April, is among the favorites for the Norfolk on Thursday. Ward also runs Bundchen in the Queen Mary and Fandom in the Windsor Castle. Joel Rosario rides Bundchen and American Rascal. Irad Ortiz is booked on Fandom and Twilight Gleaming.

Classic Causeway, trained by Kenny McPeek, is ambitiously spotted in the big race Wednesday, the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Fourth on June 3 in the Grade 3 Arlington Stakes, Classic Causeway was priced at about 100-1 with English bookmakers late this week in a race headed by Adayar, Bay Bridge, Luxembourg, and My Prospero.

Wednesday also brings out American 2-year-olds, with Fandom likely for the Windsor Castle and three horses – Bundchen, Crimson Advocate, and Cynane – in the Queen Mary. Cynane is trained by England native Tom Morley, while Crimson Advocate is one of two expected runners during the week for trainer George Weaver. Weaver also has the sharp debut winner No Nay Mets for the Norfolk, part of Thursday’s card, which features the Gold Cup over 2 1/2 miles.

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Friday brings two more Group 1s, the Coronation for 3-year-old fillies at one mile and the Commonwealth Cup, a six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds. The festivities wrap up Saturday with the featured Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, which is expected to draw the Christophe Clement-trained Big Invasion.

The Ascot course was listed as good to firm late this week, but rain was expected Sunday and could persist throughout much of the meeting. First post for the cards is 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

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