The 3-year-old filly Elmalka won the English 1000 Guineas at overlaid odds of 29-1, and thanks to the presence of Opera Singer could offer a fair price again Friday at Ascot in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes.

The Coronation, a one-turn mile for 3-year-old fillies, takes top billing on Day 4 of the Royal meeting, with the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup for 3-year-olds at six furlongs a strong supporting feature. Also carded are a pair of Group 2s, the King Edward for 3-year-olds at 1 1/2 miles and the Albany Stakes, a 2-year-old sprint that includes the Wesley Ward-trained Burning Pine.

North America has no real racing program for turf stayers, horses that want to run 1 3/4 miles or longer, and that is why the Thursday Gold Cup Day program each year at Royal Ascot holds less interest on the west side of the Atlantic than the east. The lone Group 1 on the card, it is contested at 2 1/2 miles, a long race even by European staying standards.

The Gold Cup is a long race with a long history.

The last time Auguste Rodin and Inspiral won they unveiled two of the most dynamic performances hours apart in Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita last November.

Both are winless in limited campaigns in Europe and the Middle East this year in advance of their first-ever meeting in Wednesday’s Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Royal Ascot, west of London.

Get out the top hats and tails: Royal Ascot 2024 is upon us.

The five-day Royal meeting at venerable Ascot Racecourse launches, as usual, on a Tuesday, a daily morning treat for American racing fans through Saturday’s closing card.

The meeting begins with a bang, opening with the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes run over a straight mile. The Tuesday card, the week’s best, features two other Group 1s, the King Charles III (formerly the King’s Stand), a five-furlong sprint; and the St. James’s Palace Stakes, a one-turn mile for 3-year-olds.

One might easily come away with the idea that while Tamfana finished fourth in the 1000 Guineas last month at Newmarket, she was the best horse in the race. Her overall form combined with her last-start performance has Tamfana near the head of early betting markets for the Group 1 Prix de Diane, also known as the French Oaks, on Sunday at Chantilly Racecourse.