Royal Ascot: Ten Bob Tony pulls off stunning Queen Anne upset

Ten Bob Tony blew up the tote board before order was restored on opening day of the 2026 royal meeting at Ascot Racecourse in England.

Ten Bob Tony kicked off Tuesday’s card with a last-to-first victory in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes that very, very few saw coming. The horse paid $121.60 in American parimutuel wagering.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien didn’t have a Queen Anne runner but quickly followed with victories in the Group 2 Coventry, with Great Barrier Reef, and in the Group 1 King Charles III, won by Mission Central. O’Brien barely missed a third straight tally when odds-on favorite Bow Echo won a tight photo over Gstaad in the Group 1 St. James’s Palace Stakes.

Kieren Shoemark rode Ten Bob Tony and said after his shocking win that he felt the Queen Anne, a straight-course mile, had not played out at an intemperate tempo.

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“He traveled into it so easily and I didn't think we were going that quick either, so it didn't feel like there was a pace collapse,” Shoemark said.

If accurate, that would make the Queen Anne result even more confounding. Not only did Ten Bob Tony rally from last of nine for a half-length upset, runner-up More Thunder had only Ten Bob Tony behind him halfway through the Queen Anne, nabbing second by a head over Opera Ballo.

Opera Ballo set the pace, opening an early lead of several lengths under Billy Loughnane while his favored Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate, Notable Speech, stalked the pace. Notable Speech offered little response when jockey William Buick began asking his mount to pick up with more than a quarter-mile remaining, and it was Opera Ballo who stayed on fairly strongly.

Appleby noted that Notable Speech in three Ascot appearances never has approached his best form. Also worth noting, at least for future reference, is that the Queen Anne often throws up chaotic results. Docklands, seventh in Tuesday’s renewal, won the 2025 Queen Anne at 14-1, while Triple Time scored at 33-1 in 2023, and Accidental Agent won at about the same price in 2018.

Ed Walker trains Ten Bob Tony, a son of Night of Thunder and the Dark Angel mare Hug, who won his first Group race, a Group 3 at Epsom, on June 6 while making his 17th career start.

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The St. James’s Palace, a one-turn mile for 3-year-olds, provided the other group stakes bookend Tuesday, and Bow Echo was fortunate to escape with his unbeaten mark intact. Now 5 for 5, Bow Echo, Loughnane riding, cruised up to the leaders with three furlongs remaining like he’d win for fun. He did not.

Bow Echo debuted at one mile and only has raced at that distance, but after his charge had held on by a nose Tuesday, trainer George Boughey averred that Bow Echo just barely stays the trip.

“This is as far as this horse wants to go,” Boughey said.

Loughnane, asking his mount for little, hit the front with about a quarter-mile remaining, but he could not put away Talk of New York directly to his inside, as Gstaad and Ryan Moore plugged away along the fence. Talk of New York dropped away with a half-furlong remaining, but Gstaad steadily ate away at Bow Echo’s lead. Two more jumps, and he’d have come out on top.

Bow Echo, who paid $3.10, has the Sussex Stakes over one mile at Goodwood as a major summer goal. He, like Ten Bob Tony, is by Night of Thunder, and his dam is the Invincible Spirit mare Aristocratic Lady.

Mission Central paid $29.60 winning the King Charles III, easily the most important score of his career. Tenth last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, Mission Central got six pounds from his older male rivals in this five-furlong sprint – and got up in the last stride to beat the 4-year-old filly Rayevka by a head.
Moore delivered his mount from far back in the 26-runner field, coming late and hard on the near-side rail as Mission Central won a European Group 1 in his first try. Mission Central is by No Nay Never out of Thar She Blows, by Zoffany.

Moore rode favored Confucius in the Coventry, another five-furlong sprint, but only for a half-furlong or so during the middle stages did Confucius appear to be traveling with real purpose. After splitting into two groups, the 21 2-year-olds came together into one pack, nearly all of them strung out in a horizontal line about a furlong from the finish before Great Barrier Reef, who’d been part of the far-side group, asserted himself late and won by a half-length, going away.

Moore had ridden Great Barrier Reef in two Ireland wins but switched Tuesday to Confucius, ridden last out by Wayne Lordan, who piloted Great Barrier Reef to Coventry glory.

Great Barrier Reef is another son of No Nay Never, produced by the Haafhd mare Gems. He paid $14.30 as a distant second choice, and, after the Queene Anne bomb, restored some semblance of order Tuesday at Ascot.

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