By Tony Elves The old gold and peacock blue silks, which were carried to victory four times at Royal Ascot last year, will be sported by a host of leading chances next week. Older Horses ENGLISH OAK Winner of three of his 15 starts and currently rated 100. Scored by three lengths from Billyjoh when landing the Buckingham Palace Stakes Handicap at Royal Ascot (7f) last year off a mark of 99. Finished sixth, beaten six and a quarter lengths, to My Cloud in a handicap at Newbury (1m) in May off a mark of 103 when last seen in action. (Trained by Ed Walker)  “He is going to go for the Buckingham Palace. He obviously won it last year and has, basically, been disappointing since. We have changed a few things up after Newbury last time and he actually sent him up to Charlie Vigors of Hillwood Stud. He is a great friend of mine and we just turned him out in a field for a week to reset. A couple of times he was a bit unlucky but he just hadn’t been showing that spark. The week at the Stud has done him the world of good and he has come back bouncing, Ed is now flying and he’s down to a 1lb higher  mark than when winning last year. It’s an if but I think we have given him every chance and turning him out has, hopefully, done the trick.” Watch every race of Royal Ascot 2025 live on Sky Sports Racing (Sky 415 | Virgin 519) from Tuesday 17th June to Saturday 21st June. FALLEN ANGEL Winner of four of her 9 starts and currently rated 114. Finished sixth, beaten five and three quarter lengths, to Lead Artist in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury (1m) in May. (Karl Burke) “Fallen Angel had a nice comeback run in the Lockinge. She was up on the pace and probably got a bit tired. It was a very good race, and she is going to run in the Duke Of Cambridge. I would imagine it will be a hot race, but she is a multiple Group 1 winner running in a Group 2. She should have a good chance.” FLORA OF BERMUDA Winner of two of her 14 starts. Finished runner-up, beaten a neck, to Inisherin in the Group 2 Duke Of York Stakes at York (6f) in May. (Andrew Balding) “She is a newcomer for us, and I thought it was a very taking run in the Duke Of York. She flew home late and was arguably unlucky to be beaten by Inisherin, who is one of the best sprinters around. We are still toying with the idea of whether it’s the five or the six furlongs for her. We are working it out at the moment as we have a few in the sprint division.” HAATEM Winner of four of his 15 starts and currently rated 113. Finished fourth, beaten two and three quarter lengths, to Quddwah in a Listed contest at ParisLongchamp (1m) in May. (Richard Hannon) “Haatem obviously won the Jersey for us last year and it was a great day. He is one of our favourites and certainly one of our jockey’s favourites, he is so tough. He needed the run when he came back in the Sandown Mile and then went to France and was a bit disappointing if I’m honest. I think he would have been better if there had been more pace, it was a typical French race with no pace. He gave the impression that he needed to go up in trip, so we are going to run him in the Wolferton. The great thing about this horse is that he has a great attitude, he’s a smasher. I am sure he will settle and if he stays, he will be there or thereabouts.” KIND OF BLUE Winner of three of his 8 starts and currently rated 116. Ended his first season racing with a head success from Swingalong in the Group 1 Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot (6f) last October. Reared in stalls and missed the break when last of 9, beaten six lengths, to Monteille in the Group 3 Prix du Gros-Chene at Chantilly (5f) in June. (James Fanshawe) “He won the Champions Sprint for us at the end of last year. The plan was to go for the Greenland Stakes at the Curragh but he had a tiny setback which stopped that, but we were keen to get a run into him. We went to the Prix du Gros-Chene at Chantilly and, unfortunately, he was put in the stalls first and was standing around for a long time. He got a bit upset and just as they were getting ready to go the horse next to him messed about. He reared and the whole thing was over. He effectively had a racecourse gallop, but it did get all of the freshness out of him. He will run in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.” LAZZAT Winner of seven of his 10 starts and currently rated 118. Returned to winning form when slamming Toyotomi five and a half lengths in a Listed race at Chantilly (6f) in May. (Jerome Reynier) “He is a horse we have had our eye on for a long time and it didn’t take much detective work to know why. He is a thoroughly admirable horse and the stiff six on a straight course will play to his strengths in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. He is one of our big bullets for the week.” MAP OF STARS Winner of five of his 7 starts in France. Finished runner-up, beaten a neck, to Sosie in the Group 1 Prix Ganay at ParisLongchamp (1m 2 1/2f) in April. Has won his previous two starts - beating Horizon Dore two and a half lengths in the Group 2 Prix d'Harcourt (1m 2f) earlier in April and had made a winning reappearance in the Group 3 Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud (1m 2f) in March when scoring by three quarters of a length from First Look. (Francois-Henri Graffard) “He has done very little wrong and is a horse we hold in high regard, as does James Doyle. He obviously got beaten in the Prix Ganay by Sosie and there was a bit of hard luck as he had to wait to make his run and Sosie got first run on him. Sosie went on and won the Prix  d'Ispahan and the form looks very strong. Map Of Stars will go on any ground and the stiff mile and quarter in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes will be perfect.” NIGHT RAIDER Winner of four of his 8 starts and currently rated 111. Finished third, beaten four lengths, to Inisherin in the Group 2 Duke Of York stakes at York (6f) in May. (Karl Burke) “Night Raider, again, is a horse we have had our eyes on for a long time. Karl holds him in high regard, and you had to question what he would do on the turf as all his form had been on the all-weather. I think he ran well in the Duke Of York for a long way and it looks like he has got bags of speed. He looks a very fast horse, and we will drop him back to five furlongs now in the King Charles III Stakes. James went up to Karl’s the other day to ride him and was impressed with him. He thinks he’s a very fast horse.” Three-Year-Olds CONSOLIDATION Winner of two of his 5 starts and currently rated 95. Made a winning reappearance at Goodwood (7f) in May when beating Power Fizz a head off a mark of 90. (Ralph Beckett) “He was a horse we bought at the Breeze-Ups last year, but he was a slow burner type of horse and it took him four starts to get off the mark. He was a slow learner for a Breeze-Up horse, but we then took him to Goodwood for his reappearance in a very competitive handicap and he came out on top. We thought he had a workable mark, so we put him away for the Britannia Handicap. We think the stiff mile will suit and he is off 95 which we hope will help put him in the thick of the action in the Britannia.” OPPORTUNITY Winner of one of his 3 starts and currently rated 95. Off the mark with a neck success from Rahiebb in a novice at Haydock (1m 3 1/2f) in April and subsequently fourth, beaten eight and a half lengths, to Amiloc in the listed Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood (1m 3f) in May. (William Haggas) “He is going to run in the King Edward VII Stakes. We ran him in the Cocked Hat at Goodwood to see if he could run in the Derby, but he was very green and then got wiped out. He is a big backward baby but William (Haggas) has always held him in high regard, so we are going to run him in the King Edward.” REALIGN Winner of one of his 3 starts and currently rated 93. Off the mark with a five and a half length success from Lord Montague in a maiden at Salisbury (6f) in May.(William Haggas) “He is an interesting horse and, is again, a Breeze-Up horse from last year. He has good form in the book and finished two lengths behind Shadow Of Light at Newmarket and then we ran him in the Convivial where he didn’t stay. He then went to Salisbury and won very impressively. We are going to drop him back to five furlongs and run in the Palace Of Holyrood House. William has been very happy with him, and I think he is going to be more of a six-furlong horse, but the stiff five at Ascot should be well within his capabilities.” Two-Year-Olds HUMIDITY Made a winning debut at Newbury (6f) in May when short heading Title Role. (Andrew Balding) “He impressed us on his debut at Newbury where he went out on the front and wore his heart on his sleeve and kept on finding. He is obviously going to be suited by a step up in trip and his brother won the Chesham first time out. He is a horse I think will go very well.” NAVAL LIGHT Finished runner-up, beaten a length and a half, to Old Is Gold in a conditions event at Beverley (5f) on his debut in May. (Karl Burke) “Naval Light went in what was called the Brian Yeardley at Beverley. He missed the break and then ran on well and it was a race we won the previous year with Shareholder, and he went on to win the Norfolk Stakes. He ran green in behind and the gaps didn’t appear but when they did he took off. He is probably a six-furlong horse but we have Postmodern and Underwriter in the Coventry. As long as they are going to Ascot, he is going to run in the Norfolk. Though if one of those had a hold up for some reason and didn’t make it we would probably switch him to the Coventry.” POSTMODERN Impressed on his debut at Yarmouth (6f) in May when scoring by five lengths from Amorim. (Hamad Al Jehani) “He is a very, very impressive colt who won at Yarmouth where he jumped out and made the running. He was travelling beautifully, and Jamie took a pull a furlong out and was waiting for them to come to him, but they never did and he just pulled away again. It was probably a decent field, and the Godolphin colt was then second in a good maiden at Nottingham. The form probably has some substance to it, and he will go to the Coventry. Again, is a colt we are excited about.” UNDERWRITER Gave James Doyle his first winner since returning from injury when beating Kanishka two lengths at Ayr (6f) in May. (Archie Watson) “Underwriter won at Ayr, and I think this is a bit of a forgotten horse as he won a while ago. At the time he was all the rage, and he went to Ayr and bolted up and it was straight to the Coventry, that was always the plan. He is probably going to be second string as James will almost certainly ride Postmodern, but I think he will run very well.” ZELAINA Hugely impressive when scorching home by two and three quarter lengths from Secret Oath in a maiden fillies’ at Nottingham (5f) last week. (Karl Burke) “I try to keep my feet on the ground with the horses I deal with and there is nothing worse than getting carried away as they can disappoint you, as you know. I have to say potentially, we saw some a bit special at Nottingham. On paper, it was a phenomenal race, and you could nearly say it was a stakes race, and I can’t believe the way she absolutely destroyed them. There has been comments about temperament, but I think she is more a filly that just wants to get on with it. She was very cool and calm at Nottingham and she is all about speed and will go for the Queen Mary. I thought there was something wow about that performance. Leovanni won the Nottingham race last year and went on and won the Queen Mary. I am trying to keep my feet on the ground, but I thought that was a very exciting performance.” Watch every race of Royal Ascot 2025 live on Sky Sports Racing (Sky 415 | Virgin 519) from Tuesday 17th June to Saturday 21st June.