Royal Ascot - Racing: Battle of the middle distance horses in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes

bet365 News Team Published: Jun 15 2022 19:07

One of the biggest sporting events in the calendar and the jewel in the Flat-racing crown, we take a look at the key races on day two at Royal Ascot.

Queen Mary Stakes

The second day at Royal Ascot kicks off with the Queen Mary Stakes; with two-year-old fillies taking centre stage over 5 furlongs.

Overview

When: Wednesday 15th June
Time: 2.30pm
Distance: 5 furlongs
Winning prize money: £68,080
Class: Group 2
Open to: Two-year-old fillies

Key facts:

Recent winners of the Queen Mary Stakes have come from a wide variety of races in Great Britain, Ireland and America. Ten of the last 12 winners had won their last outing before Royal Ascot.

Wesley Ward has an excellent record in the race, winning it four times and holds another strong hand in this year’s renewal with the current favourite Love Reigns. The last American horse to win the race, Lady Aurelia, arrived at Ascot off the back of one maiden win at Keeneland, the same path taken by Love Reigns.

A trainer who has struggled for success in the race is Aidan O’Brien, who is yet to win the Queen Mary Stakes after 11 attempts. No French horse has won the race in its 43-year history, and the sole French representative for this year’s renewal is Funny Money Honey for Florian Guyader.

The jockey to follow in recent times has been Frankie Dettori, who has landed the contest on four occasions.

It is a race that has been no stranger to an unexpected result, since the turn of the decade seven winners were sent off at double digits.

Five in focus:

Love Reigns

Trainer: Wesley Ward
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr
Owner: Stonestreet Stables Llc
Sire: U S Navy Flag
Age: 2
Official Rating: N/A
Race Record: 1
Current Price: 3/1
Major Wins: N/A
Summary: Trainer has an excellent record with two-year-olds at Ascot, won impressively on debut at Keeneland. Fascinating contender.

Dramatised

Trainer: Karl Burke
Jockey: Daniel Tudhope
Owner: Clipper Logistics
Sire: Showcasing
Age: 2
Official Rating: N/A
Race Record: 1
Current Price: 4/1
Major wins: N/A
Summary: Well fancied on debut and duly obliged, winning strong looking Newmarket maiden in ready fashion.

Maria Branwell

Trainer: David O’Meara
Jockey: Kieran Shoemark
Owner: Bronte Collection 1
Sire: James Garfield
Age: 2
Official Rating: N/A
Race Record: 11
Current Price: 10/1
Major Wins: Listed National Stakes
Summary: Two from two, landing Sandown Listed race on her last start. Strongest form in the field to date.

Katey Kontent

Trainer: Clive Cox
Jockey: Adam Kirby
Owner: S R Hope & S W Barrow
Sire: Havana Grey
Age: 2
Official Rating: N/A
Race Record: 11
Current Price: 10/1
Major Wins: N/A
Summary: Two from two, winning impressively on both starts. Hard to know the strength of the form, but has potential nonetheless.

Omniqueen

Trainer: Dave Loughnane
Jockey: Rossa Ryan
Owner: Amo Racing and Omnihorse Racing
Sire: Tasleet
Age: 2
Official Rating: N/A
Race Record: 1
Current Price: 14/1
Major Wins: N/A
Summary: Cost 200,000 Guineas and looked smart when landing Ascot maiden from the front. Lacks experience in a big field but another promising contender.

Prince Of Wales’s Stakes

The only Group 1 race on the Royal Ascot day two card, but it is a good one! The richest prize of the week which consistently attracts a wealth of middle distance top class talent, and has been won by superstars such as Dubai Millennium, Ouija Board and Highland Reel.

Overview

When: Wednesday 15th June
Time: 3.40pm
Distance: 1 mile 2 furlongs
Winning prize money: £567,100
Class: Group 1
Open to: Four-year-olds and up

Key facts:

Sir Michael Stoute is hoping his improving four-year-old Bay Bridge can provide him a fifth winner of the race, some 40 years after his first winner back in 1981, as well as landing the 2018 and 2019 renewals. Ryan Moore, who won the contest last year aboard Love, partners him as he did at Sandown on his last outing.

Aidan O’Brien also has a strong record in the race, winning twice in the last five years and has a total of four Prince Of Wales’s Stakes to his name. There has been no standout jockey in recent times, with Frankie Dettori landing the race four times and both James Doyle and Ryan Moore having two winners apiece.

John Gosden won the race with star mare The Fugue back in 2014, and has Lord North bidding to follow up his 2020 win and become the first horse since 1995 to win two renewals.

Since obtaining Group 1 status in 2000, the race has been starved of real surprises and has been dominated by those short in the market. Every winner this century was sent off at single figure odds, with the exception of 2016 winner My Dream Boat.

Five in focus:

Bay Bridge

Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute
Jockey: Ryan Moore
Owner: James Wigan & Ballylinch Stud
Sire: New Bay
Age: 4
Official Rating: 121
Race Record: 34/1111-1
Previous Royal Ascot results: N/A
Current Price: 5/4
Major Wins: Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes, Listed Seymour Stakes
Summary: Typical Sir Michael Stoute improver, who won the Brigadier Gerard in the manner of a Group 1 horse. Strong claims to enhance trainer’s record in the race.

Shahryar

Trainer: Hideaki Fujiwara
Jockey: Cristian Demuro
Owner: Sunday Racing Co Ltd
Sire: Deep Impact
Age: 4
Official Rating: 120
Race Record: 1/31143-1
Previous Royal Ascot results: N/A
Current Price: 10/3
Major Wins: Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic, Group 1 Japanese Derby
Summary: Fascinating Japanese contender with proven Group 1 form after landing the Dubai Sheema Classic. First start on British soil.

State Of Rest

Trainer: Joseph O’Brien
Jockey: Shane Cross
Owner: State Of Rest Partnership
Sire: Starspangledbanner
Age: 4
Official Rating: 119
Race Record: 125435/311-13
Previous Royal Ascot results: N/A
Current Price: 5/1
Major Wins: Group 1 Prix Ganay, Group 1 Cox Plate, Group 1 Saratoga Derby Stakes
Summary: Globetrotting star for Joseph O’Brien, running in USA, Australia, France and Ireland before coming to Royal Ascot. Group 1 winner.

Lord North

Trainer: John & Thady Gosden
Jockey: Frankie Dettori
Owner: HH Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed Racing
Sire: Dubawi
Age: 6
Official Rating: 118
Race Record: 1/182121/11304/1-214
Previous Royal Ascot results: 2020: 1st – Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes
Current Price: 6/1
Major Wins: Two x Group 1 Dubai Turf, Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes
Summary: 2020 winner, bidding to win the race for a second time. This year’s renewal looks stronger than 2020.

Grand Glory

Trainer: Gianluca Bietolini
Jockey: Mickael Barzalona
Owner: Haras De Hus
Sire: Olympic Glory
Age: 6
Official Rating: 116
Race Record: 1/213/123971/263112?/11
Previous Royal Ascot results: N/A
Current Price: 8/1
Major Wins: Group 3 Prix Allex Stakes, Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet Stakes, Group 3 Grand Prix De Vichy
Summary: Sprung a surprise when landing Group 1 at Deauville last term when 33/1, however has backed that up with good wins in Longchamp Listed/Group 3 since. Regular rider Cristian Demuro chooses Shahryar, however.

Duke Of Cambridge Stakes

One of the newer additions to Royal Ascot, The race was first ran in 2004. The Group 2 allows fillies and mares to compete from their four-year-old season onwards, and has notably been won by superstar mares Soviet Song and Integral.

Overview

When: Wednesday 15th June
Time: 4.20pm
Distance: 1 mile
Winning prize money: £103,600
Class: Group 2
Open to: Fillies and Mares four-years and up

Key facts:

The owner to follow here is Cheveley Park Stud, who are responsible for winning the race in 2014 and 2021. They hold another strong hand with three of this year’s runners.

Top trainers Sir Michael Stoute and John Gosden are each responsible for four winners, with the former having Potapova and Bashkirova renew rivalry after a 1-2 on Epsom Derby day.

There has also been three French winners in the races history, and Chrisopher Head looks to add to that tally with his one Royal Ascot runner Sibila Spain.

Four-year-olds have been dominant here, accounting for all but three of the races since the inaugural running in 2004. The one winner aged 6 was generational filly Soviet Song in 2006

Wayne Lordan, Ryan Moore and William Buick have all landed the race twice, and the two latter names will be hopeful of making it a third win aboard Mother Earth and Saffron Beach respectively.

Five in focus:

Saffron Beach

Trainer: Jane Chapple-Hyam
Jockey: William Buick
Owner: Mrs B V Sangster, J Wigan & O Sangster
Sire: New Bay
Age: 4
Official Rating: 115
Race Record: 11/228011-4
Previous Royal Ascot results N/A:
Current Price: 9/4
Major Wins: Group 1 Sun Chariot Stakes, Group 3 Atalanta Stakes
Summary: Group 1 winner last term beating Mother Earth, and last seen finishing 4th in the Group 1 Dubai Turf. Strong form claims.

Novemba

Trainer: Peter Schiergen
Jockey: Sibylle Vogt
Owner: Gestut Brummerhof
Sire: Gleneagles
Age: 4
Official Rating: 113
Race Record: 14053
Previous Royal Ascot results: 2021: 4th - Group 1 Coronation Stakes
Current Price: 15/2
Major Wins: Group 2 German 1000 Guineas
Summary: Landed the German Guineas last term and some strong form in defeat in Group 1s recently.

Mother Earth

Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
Jockey: Ryan Moore
Owner: Derrick Smith & Mrs John magnier & Michael Tabor
Sire: Zoffany
Age: 4
Official Rating: 111
Race Record: 23133032/1232132504-17
Previous Royal Ascot results: 2020: 3rd – Group 3 Albany Stakes, 2021: 3rd – Group 1 Coronation Stakes
Current Price: 5/2
Major Wins: Group 1 1000 Guineas, Group 1 Prix Rothschild, Group 3 Express Stakes
Summary: Slightly disappointed last time in the Lockinge Stakes last time when a well beaten 7th of 9, however is a previous two-time Group 1 winner which would give her strong form claims.

Bashkirova

Trainer: William Haggas
Jockey: Tom Marquand
Owner: Cheveley Park Stud
Sire: Pivotal
Age: 4
Official Rating: 106
Race Record: 1117-21
Previous Royal Ascot results:
Current Price: 5/1
Major Wins: Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes
Summary: Beat stablemate Potapova at Epsom last time, has yet to run at higher than Group 3 level and likely needs to step up another level to trouble the market leaders.

Sibila Spain

Trainer: Christopher Head
Jockey: Aurelien Lemaitre
Owner: Yeguada Centurion
Sire: Frankel
Age: 4
Official Rating: 111
Race Record: 114417-41
Previous Royal Ascot results: N/A
Current Price: 13/2
Major Wins: Group 2 Prix du Muguet, Listed Prix de Liancourt
Summary: Out of Frankel, and is a Group 2 winner in France. Has done a lot of her racing on soft ground. Fascinating contender however will need to step up on bare form.