So You Think, the 6-year-old New Zealand-bred horse, has won nine Group 1 races in his career in locations as diverse as Australia, England, and Ireland.

Later this year, So You Think will begin stud duty in Australia. Until then, he has time to add to his record. On Wednesday, he will be a heavy favorite to win the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf at Royal Ascot.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien, So You Think has padded his record this year, with a six-length win in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh in May.

Frankel on one end, Black Caviar on the other: As far as bookends go, the Royal Ascot meeting has done pretty well by itself.

The undefeated 3-year-old filly Beauty Parlor is quietly being mentioned in the same breath as the great Irish-bred, French-raced filly Zarkava, who was retired in 2008 unbeaten in seven starts.

From start to finish, the five-day Royal Ascot meeting that begins Tuesday is loaded with superstars.

The highlight of the first day is the appearance of the undefeated champion Frankel in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes over a mile. Perfect after 10 starts, including the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, England, on May 19, Frankel was a 1-8 shot with bookmakers to win the Queen Anne Stakes as of Friday.

For the record, Excelebration, winner of the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp last September and second to Frankel in the Lockinge, is next in the betting at 6-1.

Earl of Tinsdal, a Group 1 winner in Germany last year, led throughout Sunday’s Group 1 Gran Premio di Milano at San Siro Racecourse in Milan, Italy, his first major win of 2012.

Ridden by William Buick, Earl of Tinsdal, the 5-2 second choice, won the race over about 1 1/2 miles on turf by 3 1/2 lengths over the mare Quiza Quiza Quiza. Vadamar, the 4-5 favorite, could only finish third in the field of seven.

Earl of Tinsdal, a 4-year-old German-bred by Black Sam Bellamy, was fourth in the Group 2 Gerling Preis in Cologne, Germany, in April.

European Group 1 winners Earl of Tinsdal, Estejo, and Quiza Quiza Quiza are part of a field of nine in Sunday’s Group 1 Gran Premio di Milano at San Siro Racecourse, the first major race of the year for older horses at the Milan, Italy, course.

The Gran Premio di Milano, worth approximately $261,000, is run over about 1 1/2 miles on turf on a right-handed course.

When Charles Hatton, the Daily Racing Form columnist, began calling Gallant Fox’s 1930 run through the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes the Triple Crown, he was mining a term said to have originated in mid-19th century England when a horse named West Australia won the 2000 Guineas, the Derby, and the St. Leger.

Jockey Yuichi Fukunaga, who is scheduled to begin riding in Southern California in early July for two months, won his first Grade 1 race of 2012 in Sunday’s $2.6 million Yasuda Kinen aboard Strong Return at Tokyo Racecourse.

Fukunaga, the leading rider in 2011 and this season at Japan Racing Association tracks, rode Strong Return to a neck victory over Grand Prix Boss in the one-mile turf race. Strong Return was second by a neck in the 2011 Yasuda Kinen.

The 20-starter Prix du Jockey Club, the French Derby, gave every indication of basically being unfathomable, and that proved to be the case, as little-known Saonois scored an upset victory in a roughly run edition of the Group 1 race Sunday at Chantilly.
 
Saonois, a French-bred son of Chichicastanengo trained by J. P. Gauvain, muscled between horses in deep stretch under Antoine Hamelin to win by three-quarters of a length. Godolphin’s Saint Baudolino came home second, a head better than Nutello, who in turn beat well-regarded Kesampour by a nose.

Was, considered one of trainer Aidan O’Brien’s lesser 3-year-old fillies, pulled a 20-1 upset in Friday’s English Oaks at Epsom Downs, holding off a sustained threat from Shirocco Star to win by a neck.

The Fugue, the 11-4 favorite, could only finish third in the field of 12 after racing in traffic early in the race over 1 1/2 miles on turf.