Royal Ascot 2018 takes place between Tuesday 19th and Saturday 23rd June and punters have a fantastic opening day scheduled to get the show on the road with no less than three group one races penned in.
The Queen Anne Stakes brings the curtain up on what promises to be a fascinating five days of horse racing on the Berkshire turf before we crown champions in the King’s Stands Stakes and St James’s Palace Stakes.
The latter is run on the flat mile and is a prize open to three-year-old colts who rate their chances of claiming the title won by Barney Roy last year. The Richard Hannon trained champion banked the £226,840 winner’s share ahead of runner-up Lancaster Bomber and Thunder Snow with the main three serving up a gripping bunch finish.
Source: Graeme Clarke via Twitter
Odds-on favourite Churchill let backers down that day when coming home fourth and traders are reluctant to put all their eggs in one basket this time with lovers of ante-post horse racing betting presented with a wide-open market.
Without Parole has been chalked up as early favourite by traders, who value John Gosden’s hopeful as a 3/1 shot going into race month. A product of the famous Frankel brings an eye-catching record of three wins from his first three starts, including victory last time out at Sandown in the Heron Stakes, a one-mile listed stakes.
An odds-on shot Without Parole lived up to the billing but was made to work for his spot in the winner’s enclosure by Gabr who went down three-quarters of a length at the conclusion of a hard-fought battle. The hat-trick delighted connections, with John Gosden speaking to the waiting media at the post.
Admitting conditions didn’t suit that day, Without Parole preferring good to firm underfoot, but he was pleased the winner showed his class under a sensible ride by jockey Frankie Dettori. Looking ahead to this race Gosden promised followers there was more to come on the summer ground.
Source: Cheltenham Tips via Twitter
Flicking through the form of his trio, well-travelled US Navy Flag won three on the bounce last summer with that purple patch made up of the Plusvital Round Tower Stakes at Curragh and a group one double – the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes and Darley Dewhurst Stakes.
The three-year-old American bred colt who’s currently trading at 6/1 was seen following Romanised home in the Irish 2000 Guineas in May, beaten by two-and-a-quarter lengths.