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.

After Love won the 1000 Guineas in June 2020 and the Oaks in July, coming back in August with the easiest of victories in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks, everyone was eager to see what the budding star filly would do next. Wednesday at Royal Ascot, we finally get to find out.

Love makes her first start in 10 months when she takes on six rivals in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes. As of Monday, the Aidan O’Brien-trained 4-year-old filly was co-favored with Lord North in this historic fixture contested at about 1 1/4 miles.

Last year’s winner Battaash leads the way in Tuesday’s King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot after all 16 horses stood their ground at the 48-hour final declaration stage.

The seven-year-old will be making a belated seasonal debut after suffering an injury during the winter, but he has been successful first time out in all five previous campaigns.

The Charlie Hills-trained speedster took the prize in grand style 12 months ago after finishing runner-up in 2018 and 2019.

Introduced for the first time into The Racing Calendar (and Royal Ascot) last year for 4yo+ stayers rated 0-105, this contest over an extended 1m6f could be an insightful guide to Ebor Handicap. That certainly proved to be the case last year when the successful favourite, Fujaira Prince, then also justified favouritism at York on his next start.

This is the fourth year of the Wolferton being a Listed race (rather than a Listed handicap) over 1m2f on the round course.

Unquestionably the most punter-friendly handicap at the meeting with 11 of the last 12 winners sent off at no bigger than 12/1 and, in the last 31 years, as a many as 21 winners could be found in the first six in the betting.

It usually pays to stick to the leading fancies for the St James’s Palace Stakes. Only the Aidan O’Brien-trained Circus Maximus (10/1), who had previously failed to stay in the Derby when finishing sixth, has won at double-figure odds since 1992 when Brief Truce floored Arazi and Rodrigo De Triano (both unplaced). 

After only finding Blue Point too good in the 2018 and 2019 runnings, with his old rival packed off to stud, Battaash made it third time lucky in the King’s Stand when running out an easy winner last season. 

Despite the 150/1 success of Nando Parrado last season (just two weeks into the turf season following the return to racing so a weakened renewal), the Coventry Stakes has been a very good race for punters since it was promoted to Group 2 status 17 years ago with as many as nine favourites or joint-favourites obliging in the last 15 years. Last year’s shock winner became just the fifth winner since Chief Singer won at 20/1 on his racecourse debut in 1983 that failed to start in the first five in the betting and three of those were trained at Ballydoyle.