Baaeed, who is verging on being called a great horse, got the 2022 Royal Ascot meeting off to a great start Tuesday with a dominant win in the Queen Anne Stakes.
Undefeated after eight starts, Baaeed won his fourth Group 1 in a row, adding the Queen Anne to the J.T. Lockinge on May 14 at Newbury, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes last fall at Ascot, and the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp in September.
Stradivarius’s reign as king of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot ended last summer when Subjectivist won the Gold Cup. But Subjectivist suffered a serious leg injury and has not started since his Gold Cup victory last year.
Stradivarius, the Gold Cup winner in 2018, 2019, and 2020? He just soldiers on. He comes into Thursday’s Group 1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot after winning his 8-year-old debut in the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup, a 1 3/4-mile race on May 13 at York, for the third time, and a fourth Gold Cup win is far from out of the question.
If Love Reigns can run down a straight course on the second day of Royal Ascot anything like she ran around a turn on the closing day at Keeneland, she’ll stand a strong chance of giving trainer Wesley Ward his fifth win in the Group 2, $140,000 Queen Mary on Wednesday.
Plenty of overseas bettors think she will. Love Reigns as of Monday was a little less than 3-1 with British bookmakers to land the Queen Mary. She’ll have Irad Ortiz Jr. on her back and 20 2-year-old fillies opposing her in the five-furlong Queen Mary, which kicks off the Wednesday action at Royal Ascot.
The crack American-based Puerto Rican is no stranger to big-race success and is widely regarded as one of the best jockeys in the world, having collected a host of Grade One victories across North America over the past decade, together with three Eclipse awards.
Staring with Strike the Tiger’s victory in the Windsor Castle Stakes in 2009, US-based trainer Wesley Ward has won 12 races at Royal Ascot.
This year, he brings only five horses to Berkshire, but four of them have very live chances in their respective races. Top US jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride all five of Ward’s horses. Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables owns four of Ward’s five runners.
Lady Tilbury will be looking to give a new syndicate an immediate return on their investment in Wednesday’s Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The Bated Breath filly has won two of her three outings, finishing second on her debut, and beat the well-regarded Mehmar last time out.
She is trained by David Marnane who set up the MRC International syndicate only last year, so to have a Royal Ascot runner so soon has been a huge bonus.
Last year’s race
Winner: Indie Angel
Jockey: L Dettori
Trainer: J & T Gosden
Owner: Cheveley Park Stud
Age: 4 Weight: 9st 0lbs
Starting Price: 22/1
Season Form Figures: 54
Previous Best: 1st - Listed EBF Fleur De Lys Fillies’ Stakes, Lingfield (October 2020)
By Paul Jones
Last year’s race
Winner: Quick Suzy
Jockey: G F Carroll
Trainer: G P Cromwell
Owner: Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners LLC
Age: 2 Weight: 9st 0lbs
Starting Price: 8/1
Season Form Figures: 212
Previous Best: 2nd - Irish EBF Fillies Sprint Stakes (Group 3), Naas (May 2021)
By Paul Jones
It was after nine starts, all wins, five at the Group 1 level, that the great Frankel began his 2012 season with smashing score in the J.T. Lockinge Stakes, a straight mile at Newbury. From there, Frankel went on to the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, which he captured by a remarkable 11 lengths over the very good horse Excelebration.
No one’s yet saying Baaeed could be the next Frankel . . . though, come to think of it, some people kind of are.
