Royal Ascot: Invaders highlight Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes

Horses from nowhere near England headline the featured race on the final day of the most famous race meeting in England, with Artorius and Wellington near the top of the early betting market for the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on Saturday at Royal Ascot.

The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee, renamed this year in honor of the late British monarch, is worth $1.25 million and was the first million-pound race at Royal Ascot. That’s a curiosity because the six-furlong, straight-course contest hardly caters to the strength of English bloodstock, found at longer distances.

The paucity of truly top-class European sprint runners is evidenced by Australia-based Artorius’s position as early favorite for the QE II Jubilee, though at a general 4-1, he hardly is a strong choice in a 16-runner field. Wellington was priced at about 5-1, despite rating as Hong Kong’s second- or third-best sprinter this season. Zero for four in 2023, Wellington has been getting thumped all year by Hong Kong’s top sprinter, Lucky Sweynesse. Wellington has been racing around turns since a pair of 1,000-meter straight-course starts during the winter of 2020-21, but does get the services of Ryan Moore, who rode him to victory in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint this past December.

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While Wellington has gone abroad for the first time in his racing career, Artorius was in England last summer, running third of 24 in this Ascot race and third again in the July Cup at Newmarket. The good-to-firm going will suit him, though Artorius at 4-1 is a shorter price than bettors should feel comfortable accepting.

Highfield Princess also is among the favorites and runs back just five days after finishing second in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes over five furlongs at Ascot, a race in which victorious Bradsell intimidated Highfield Princess in the closing stages and might have been disqualified. Six-year-old Highfield Princess came to a sharp peak last year and has little room for improvement at this stage of her career.

Kinross had an excellent 2022 season and has been taking betting action the last couple of days for his 2023 debut in the QE II Jubilee. Down from 10-1 to 13-2, Kinross faces two challenges: At six furlongs, the race is shorter than ideal, and while Kinross acts on any ground, he almost certainly goes best on softer footing than he’s likely to find Saturday.

Big Invasion, trained in New York by Christophe Clement, carries American hopes and is not without a chance. He probably ran the best race of his career finishing strongly for second behind Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Caravel and in front of multiple Group 1-winner Casa Creed in the six-furlong Jaipur on June 10 at Belmont Park.

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