Palace Pier justified odds-on favouritism in the Queen Anne Stakes to get Royal Ascot 2021 off to a perfect start for Frankie Dettori.
Winner of the St James’s Palace Stakes at the meeting 12 months ago in front of empty grandstands, John and Thady Gosden’s brilliant miler followed up in front of a crowd of 12,000 this time.
Racing slightly on the flank in the early stages, Dettori managed to get some cover behind Prince Eiji by halfway.
The process behind finding the winner of a race can be as long or as short as one wishes to make it. It can be as simple as eeny, meeny, miny, moe or as complicated as an hours-long dive into every conceivable variable in search of relevant information.
Aidan O’Brien’s filly was favourite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe until she was ruled out on account of the soft ground – before the contaminated feed scare which resulted in some of his string being unable to run in any case at ParisLongchamp in October.
The five-year-old was a gallant runner-up when last seen in Newbury’s Group One Lockinge Stakes, finishing a length and a half behind John and Thady Gosden’s all-conquering miler Palace Pier.
Having held her own when pitched against the colts and geldings, the mare takes on only members of her own sex at Ascot – but is shouldered with a 3lb penalty for her Group Two victory in the Dahlia Stakes earlier in the season.
The usual luck of the draw and pace dynamics will be needed for some of the below “horses to follow” at this year’s Royal Ascot meeting. With no declarations available for some races, we are somewhat shooting into the dark, but I’ve tried my best to stay away from favourites and hopefully those that made the list all can at least reward each-way support.
Short-cut the form study! Kevin Blake has done the hard work for you and presents his cheat-sheet for three races at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.
The process behind finding the winner of a race can be as long or as short as one wishes to make it. It can be as simple as eeny, meeny, miny, moe or as complicated as an hours-long dive into every conceivable variable in search of relevant information.
Charlie Hills is confident Battaash will be unhindered by his lack of racecourse action since last August as he bids for back-to-back victories in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The brilliant sprinter finally broke his duck at the Berkshire venue in last year’s renewal of Tuesday’s five-furlong Group One before going on to win a fourth King George Stakes at Goodwood and a second Nunthorpe at York.
Dawn Approach took both races for trainer Jim Bolger in 2013, and now his son seeks to maintain family honour and complete the same Group One double in a race which forms part of the Qipco British Champions Series on Tuesday.
Poetic Flare has already had four races this season – finishing sixth in the French Guineas and runner-up to stablemate Mac Swiney in the Irish Guineas since his Classic triumph at Newmarket.
At roughly 2 1/2 miles, the Ascot Gold Cup ranks among the longest Group 1 races in the world, and at age 7 the race’s favorite Stradivarius knows something about staying around for a good long while.
Europe’s greatest staying horse of recent generations, Stradivarius won the 1 3/4-mile Queen’s Vase during the Royal Ascot meeting in 2017. The next three Royal meetings, he won his first Gold Cup, working to beat the excellent French staying horses Vazirabad; scored a workmanlike one-length win over Dee Ex Bee in 2019; and romped home a 10-length hero in the 2020 renewal.
John Gosden is taking nothing for granted as Palace Pier bids to double his Royal Ascot tally and justify short odds in the Queen Anne Stakes.
The Kingman colt burst on to the Group One scene with a thrilling victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes 12 months ago, before then making it two top-level victories in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville.
He lost his unbeaten record when only third in the QEII at Ascot in October, but has bounced back with successive wins this spring – most recently dominating his rivals in the Lockinge at Newbury.
