“Morning everyone” – day two preview
Today’s card at Royal Ascot poses all the intrigue and anticipation of a delicately poised second day of a Boxing Day Ashes test and a true great of the cricket game is honoured in the Queen’s Vase (Gr 2, 1m 6f), race two on the card at 12.05am (AEST).
The JP McManus-owned Benaud, aptly sired by Australia (Galileo), takes his place in the 15-runner field.
Named after legendary Australian cricket player and commentator, Richie Benaud, who died in 2015, the three-year-old arrives off the back of a one-and-three-quarter-length win at Naas last month, his second success in a lightly-raced six-start career.
And there are several relatable findings within his pedigree, too. Out of Kawaha (Danehill Dancer) a five-time winner in Italy, Benaud’s third dam is Italian stakes winner Mistral’s Collette (Simply Great), from who descends OTI Racing’s gallant grey Grey Lion (Galileo), a three-time stakes winner in Australia.
Furthermore, digging deeper into the pedigree, and you find the Chris Waller-trained import Brimham Rocks (Fastnet Rock) a dual Group 3 winner and Group 1 runner-up, purchased for 340,000gns from the Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training sale in 2017.
Also set to race in the Queen Anne is Zinc White, a son from the first crop of Rich Hill Stud shuttler Vadamos (Monsun), who was sold in Monday’s Goffs London Sale for £310,000 (approx. AUD$567,500). An outsider for today’s event, Zinc White is a promising prospect for Vadamos, who has made an eye-catching start in both hemispheres, and could have five potential runners at the Royal Meeting.
Coolmore’s Arturo Toscanini (Galileo), is out of a sister to Group 3 winner and Group 1 placed Caribbean Sunset (Danehill Dancer), in turn the dam of the stakes placed, recent Caulfield winner Holbien (Pierro).
The one mile and six furlong contest for three-year-olds has seen many graduate to Down Under, including 2019 winner Dashing Willoughby (Nathaniel), and Flemington winner Aloft (Galileo), who took out the 2015 running.
The favourite is the Aiden O’Brien-trained Wordsworth (Galileo), a son of Group 1 winner Chelsea Rose (Desert King) and brother to champion three-year-old Kew Gardens.
His family boasts Aussie prowess under his fourth dam, with VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Extra Brut (Domesday) and in WA with half-siblings No Questions (Xaar), winner of the Karrakatta Plate (Gr 2, 1200m), and Listed winner French Favorite (Favorite Trick) appearing in the pedigree out of Sorboniere (Kenmare).
Love the star attraction in Prince Of Wales’s Stakes
The eagerly anticipated return of the marvellous unbeaten four-year-old Love (Galileo) lights up the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f) with the wide-margin winner of the English 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m), Epsom Oaks (Gr 1, 1m 4f) and Yorkshire Oaks (Gr 1, 1m 4f) making her seasonal return.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained star is out of the unplaced Pikaboo (Pivotal), who has fared far better in the breeding barn, with Love one of her four stakes winners.
Six have dared take her on, including last year’s winner Lord North (Dubawi), who defeated Addeybb (Pivotal) to claim the premier middle distance event of the meeting 12 months ago.
A win at Meydan in March after a fourth–placed finish in Breeders’ Cup Turf (Gr 1, 12f) at Keeneland sees the John and Thady Gosden-trained five-year-old return in top order.
Much has been made of the famous Explosive (Exploding Prospect) family that has brought us the star three-year-old Explosive Jack (Jakkalberry), however it is another Explosive from Lord North’s family that left her indomitable mark on Australia, with the US stakes placegetter having produced three Aussie stakes winners, including Northern Meteor (Encosta De Lago), whose half-sister Comical Smile (Comic Strip) produced Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock).
Wootton Bassett’s (Iffraaj) Audarya arrives off the back of a second top-flight win in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare (Gr 1, 9.5f) in November.
She is one of nine possible runners for her high-profile Coolmore sire at the Royal Meeting.
Also among the runners is last year’s Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) runner-up Armory (Galileo), who sits on the third line of betting for Coolmore at a 7-2 chance.
Seymour Bloodstock’s Boonie hopes to upset Ward favourite
The Seymour Bloodstock-bred-and-owned son of Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible), Boonie, will be hoping to upset the Wesley Ward favourite in the Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed, 5f).
The colt was a winner on debut and most recently finished a close second at Musselburgh for trainer Kevin Ryan.
His dam, Dice Game (Shamardal), was a £9,000 (approx. AU$16,500) purchase for De Burgh Equine and Mark Pilkington from the Tattersalls December Mare sale when in foal to Brazen Beau. The unraced mare has a yearling filly by Starspangledbanner (Choisir).
A 14-1 chance overnight, Boonie and the rest of the 28-runner field, face a stern test to topple the Ward-trained favourite Ruthin (Ribchester), a six-length debut winner over five furlongs at Keeneland in April.
Toronado’s (High Chaparral) Tactical claimed this race last year for the Queen, and the shuttlers have a good chance of adding to that success, with, aside from the aforementioned Ruthin and Boonie, there features juveniles by former shuttlers Showcasing (Oasis Dream), No Nay Never (Scat Daddy) and More Than Ready (Southern Halo).
Lady favoured for Duke Of Cambridge
Lady Bowthorpe (Nathaniel) is the 2-1 favourite for today’s Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (Gr 2, 1m), from whose family derives star New Zealand-bred stayer and VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Sangster (Savabeel).
The William Jarvis-trained mare came out on top in an engrossing battle with her nearest challenger for today’s event, Queen Power (Shamardal), in the Dahlia Stakes (Gr 2, 1m 1f) last month, and followed up with a second to Palace Pier (Kingman) in the Lockinge Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) at Newbury.
Two Australian sires feature in the mile event, Exceed And Excel’s (Danehill) Double Or Bubble, and Champers Elysees for Elzaam, a son of Redoute’s Choice (Danehill).
Her nearest rival, Queen Power, is a sister to Swettenham Stud stallion Puissance De Lune, with their dam, Princess Serena (Unbridled’s Song), the producer of three stakes winners.
The 30-runner Royal Hunt Cup (1m) is always a minefield to find the winner, but Exceed And Excel’s Finest Sound currently leads the betting.
The four-year-old’s third dam is prolific producer Ardmelody (Law Society), dam of Group 1 winner Scorpion (Montjeu) among four stakes winners, as well as Social Scene (Grand Lodge), whose first foal will resonate with Australians, with it being Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) winner and four-time Sandown Classic (Gr 2, 2400m) victor Zipping (Danehill), with the latter race now named after the decorated campaigner.
Social Scene also produced Brisbane stakes winner Work The Room (Bel Esprit).
Sepoy (Elusive Quality), who has fared better with his northern hemisphere crops than in his native Australia, has two contenders for the Kensington Palace Stakes (1m), led by last-start winner Caspian Queen, while the unexposed Ffion holds a chance for David Loughnane.
The pair are two of three runners out of Exceed And Excel mares in the race, with the third being Night Of Thunder (Dubawi) filly Lola Showgirl, a stablemate of Ffion.