Two years in a row, Stradivarius has made his season’s debut in the Yorkshire Cup in May and gone on a month or so later to win the Group 1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. This year, because of the COVID-19 outbreak, there was no racing during May in England, and so when Stradivarius attempts to win his third straight Gold Cup on Thursday, it will be on a much different schedule.
The formidable horse racing segment in the country of Japan has dreamed about winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for years, and Wednesday in England a horse named Japan takes what his connections surely hope is a first step toward the 2020 Arc.
:: Royal Ascot 2020: Get PPs, previews, analysis, recaps and more
Welcome to Royal Ascot 2020, a Royal Ascot like none before and one hopes like none to come.
Gone are the vast crowds, as this year’s event will be run behind closed doors, gone are the pageantry and fancy dress as a result, and gone are the ceremonials and forelock tugging associated with the family responsible for the “Royal” aspect of the meeting.
Sky Sports Racing's senior analyst Jamie Lynch presents his pick of the opportunities for Tote punters on the opening day of Royal Ascot.
There's a few things missing from Royal Ascot in 2020 - mostly people - but one constant can always be relied on whatever the circumstances and that is hugely competitive racing. As is usually the case, Tuesday's opening card offers everything, from the fastest horses around blazing up the Ascot straight in the King's Stand Stakes to one of the toughest long-distance handicaps of the season in the Ascot Stakes.
Declan Rix nominates 10 horses to follow for Royal Ascot 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic means we get a new look Royal Ascot this season, although the great meeting keeps its normal spot in what is now an alien-looking fixture list. The stop-start build up to the 2020 extravaganza means many horse will compete without prep runs, making me weary of just how involved I’ll get this year with Royal Ascot from a betting perspective.
Peter Brant’s 2019 French Derby winner got back on the winning track Sunday at Chantilly – but just barely.
Sottsass overhauled pacesetter Shaman, who’d beaten him last month at Longchamp, but nearly got nailed on the wire by late-running Way to Paris, hanging on to win the Group 1 Prix Ganay by a head.
Sottsass, Christian Demuro riding for Jean-Claude Rouget, finished third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe to finish his 3-year-old campaign but struggled home fourth May 11 in the Prix d’Harcourt, a race Shaman led from start to finish, posting a two-length score.
Trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori don’t have to await Enable’s intended return next month to have a memorable day of English racing.
With Enable, the two-time Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner, back at Gosden’s Newmarket stables, the trainer and Dettori look loaded for Day 1, Tuesday, of the 2020 Royal Ascot meeting.
Dettori and Gosden at times seemed ubiquitous during the 2019 European flat season and they partner up on several live chances on Ascot’s first program, including Terebellum in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes.
The speed De Grawin displayed to win a maiden race at five furlongs at Wyong Racecourse in Australia on June 4 will be vital to the filly’s chances in a handicap at the same distance at Nowra Racecourse on Tuesday.
De Grawin has drawn the rail in a field of nine, and may need to utilize that speed from the inside to establish position in her fourth career start and first race against winners.
Start your Royal Ascot form study here! Kevin Blake has done the hard work for you and presents his cheat-sheet for four races 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.
The trailblazing U.S trainer is a 10-time Royal Ascot scorer and sends a speedy team of seven to Berkshire in 2020, six of whom are juveniles.
A global pandemic may keep U.S-based trainer Wesley Ward home for Royal Ascot, but he still was able to ship seven horses to the UK for the 2020 renewal which will run from Tuesday to Saturday.
Ward, despite failing to win a race at Ascot last year, is a 10-time winner at the prestigious meeting. Here is a look at his seven runners, six of whom are two-year-olds.
