BRIAN TOOMEY: Royal Ascot thoughts

👑 Royal Ascot – Day One

It’s such a fantastic time of year when Royal Ascot rolls around. It really is some of the best Flat racing there is all season and now we’ve got decs for Days One and Two, I can’t wait to see some of the top horses strutting their stuff on the Berkshire turf writes BRIAN TOOMEY.

The Queen Anne looks like a really open renewal to kick the meeting off. While the likes of Charyn, Facteur Cheval and Big Rock, the three at the top of the market, have strong pieces of form to their names, I’m not sure they’re real standouts in a race like this. I really do think people are sleeping on Royal Scotsman’s chances. He was awesome at Epsom the other day and is a very smart horse when he puts it all together. It’s true that he can throw in a stinker from time to time, but his form is pretty solid at Ascot, best shown by his third in the Coventry in 2022. No one rides the Ascot straight track quite like Jamie Spencer, and I expect Paul and Oliver Cole’s charge to run a blinder on Tuesday.

The Coventry is wide open and not a race I have a strong opinion on, but I am looking forward to seeing Big Evs in the King Charles III. He was a rapid two-year-old and it was fantastic to see him go to America and win at the Breeders’ Cup (pictured below). He looks to have trained-on having watched his win at York back in May, and I think they’ll struggle to catch this lad.

It’s hard to look away from Notable Speech in the St James’s Palace Stakes. I was fairly blown away by him in the 2000 Guineas and I think we could see him improve again here. Rosallion did it the hard way to win the Irish 2000 Guineas, but on the Newmarket form, I think he’ll do well to turn the tables with the Godolphin horse. Whatever happens, isn’t it great to see the three Guineas winners clashing at Royal Ascot? You can’t beat really competitive racing on the biggest stage.

👑 Royal Ascot – Day Two

Onto Wednesday, and I think Rogue Millennium is going to go back-to-back in the Duke of Cambridge. She was super consistent for connections last year and it was great for a smaller team like Tom Clover’s to land a Royal Ascot Group winner. She’s now with Joseph O’Brien and even though she was unlucky to get beat on her stable debut, I think she’s going to take an awful lot of beating here on the faster ground.

The Prince of Wales’s looks like a fantastic clash between Auguste Rodin and Inspiral. Aidan O’Brien’s runner clearly has a huge amount of ability, but it’s fair to say he sometimes doesn’t put his best foot forward. It’s fascinating to see the Gosdens step their mare up in trip here. She has been a top-drawer miler for a long time, but I think it’ll suit her over this 10-furlong trip, and I can’t wait to see what she does given the opportunity.

👑 Royal Ascot – Rest of the Week

We’ve only got decs for Tuesday and Wednesday at this point, but there are still a few horses I’m really looking forward to seeing later in the week.

Kyprios looks to be the superstar entry on Day Three in the Gold Cup. He won the race two years ago and, according to the Ballydoyle team, everything has gone to plan in his preparation unlike last year. However, when Willie Mullins deems a horse good enough to run in a big race, you simply have to take note. Vauban was sensational at the meeting last year and I’ve always thought a lot of this horse. It’s rare for a Triumph Hurdle winner to turn up and win a Gold Cup at Ascot, but with Willie Mullins anything is possible.

It was such a shame to see Steve Parkin’s Fallen Angel ruled out of the Coronation Stakes on Friday. She was brilliant in the Irish 1000 Guineas, and I was really looking forward to seeing her at Royal Ascot. Steve is a fantastic man to train for and I hope his star filly can come back to full fitness and hit the racetrack again soon. Her absence seems to have paved the way for Opera Singer. This Justify filly was awesome as a juvenile and she could be just about to bloom for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore.

Lots of my owners will be having runners across the week, and I want to wish them all the very best of luck. Hopefully we’ll be there with chances at the meeting in the not too distant future!

Be Lucky
BRIAN