Highfield Princess poised to rule on day one of Royal Ascot
JOB DONE: Chaldean was a workmanlike winner of the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket last month and looks sure to run a big race in the St James’s Palace Stakes on day one of Royal Ascot. Picture: David Davies/PA
Part of the charm of Royal Ascot is the absence of a gradual build-up to the main events. Instead, three of the eight Group 1 contests run over five compelling days will be packed into the first two hours of day one. A feast awaits.
A host of options but Highfield Princess enjoyed a brilliant 2022 campaign and the John Quinn-trained six-year-old can claim her fourth top-level success by winning the King’s Stand Stakes. She was turned over at York on her seasonal reappearance last month but that was still a cracking effort given she was only beaten half a length by Azure Blue, a horse she was giving 5lbs. Sure to be better for that run, she could scorch the Ascot turf.
Chaldean has yet to capture the imagination of the racing public but he is a likeable consistent colt who has already built up an impressive CV. The Andrew Balding-trained son of Frankel won four of his five starts as a juvenile, culminating with Group 1 success in the Dewhurst Stakes. He unseated Frankie Dettori in his 2000 Guineas prep run but bounced back from that unfortunate mishap to win the Newmarket Classic. In Irish 2000 Guineas hero Paddington, Chaldean faces another Classic winner in the St James’s Palace Stakes but this uncomplicated, professional horse looks sure to run a big race.
Saga looks an opposable favourite in the Wolferton Stakes and a case could be made for several in this ultra-competitive listed contest. Cadillac is one of them. Second in this race on his final start for Jessica Harrington, Cadillac will bid to go one better for George Boughey on the back of an impressive victory at Epsom earlier this month. The eye-catching jockey booking of the top-class James McDonald only adds to his appeal and 9-1 looks a very tempting each-way price.
The opening race, the Queen Anne Stakes, doesn’t have a single Irish runner but we have two leading contenders in race two, the Coventry Stakes where River Tiber is strongly fancied to give Aidan O’Brien a record-extending 10th victory in the Group 2 contest. If he is to be turned over, the Jessica Harrington-trained Givemethebeatboys looks the best-equipped horse to lower his colours.
The Joseph O’Brien-trained Mooneista is hard to fancy in the King’s Stand Stakes but Aidan O’Brien’s Irish 2000 Guineas hero Paddington is a far more credible threat in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
Willie Mullins saddles the favourite in two of the final three races on day one and Bring On The Night looks hard to oppose in the Ascot Stakes. Vauban might find things tougher in the finale, the Copper Horse Handicap, as stablemate Absurde and Joseph O’Brien’s Point King are big dangers. Joseph O’Brien’s Buckaroo and Aidan O’Brien’s Bolshoi Ballet should be in the mix in the Wolferton Stakes.
"We were delighted we ran him in Naas, he was a little bit green in the middle of the race but we feel he learned plenty from it. He won over nearly six furlongs the first day and then went back to five and is back to six now, so we think he should be happy with that."
"She's probably the best older sprinter that we've trained. We've had some very good sprinters and The Wow Signal was a top-class two-year-old, but what she did last year was phenomenal."
