G2 Queen Mary S.

Wathnan Racing struck the woodwork more than once during Tuesday's opening day of Royal Ascot and made a belated breakthrough in Wednesday's opener, the G2 Queen Mary Stakes, with £190,000 Goffs Breeze-Up acquisition and once-raced Nottingham maiden winner Leovanni (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}--Kassandra {Ire}, by Dandy Man {Ire}). The Karl Burke trainee broke smartly and raced to the fore in the smaller far-side group throughout the five-furlong dash. Shaken up to gain an overall advantage soon after passing the quarter-mile marker, the 22-1 chance refused to buckle once in front...

Wednesday's Royal Ascot cards were finalised on Monday, with the feature G1 Prince of Wales's S. made up of 10 runners but not, as expected, White Birch (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}). The G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner's absence is one less obstacle for Ballydoyle's star colt of 2023, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), with Cheveley Park Stud's Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Yeguada Centurion's Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) looking the chief threats to the Ballydoyle runner. Blue Rose Cen is joined by compatriots Horizon Dore (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}),...

The unbeaten Hot Darling (Ire) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) will be offered in a pop-up sale via Tattersalls Online on Wednesday, June 12, the auction house announced on Monday. A Listed winner after claiming the Prix des Reves d'Or at Vichy over heavy ground in her second start May 15, she entered that stakes off a determined unveiling Apr. 26 at Chantilly. Consigned by Amy Murphy Racing, she is being offered with an entry in the G3 Prix du Bois on June 16 but could also be aimed at the...

After an agonising pause following Wednesday's G2 Queen Mary S., it was a case of USA off the mark at Royal Ascot 2023 with Crimson Advocate (Nyquist--Citizen Advocate, by Proud Citizen) nosing out Relief Rally (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in a head-bobbing finish. Using the speed that had seen her book her transatlantic ticket in Gulfstream Park's Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies S. last month, the George Weaver-trained chestnut kept finding for Johnny Velazquez as the Haggas filly bore down on her with the line approaching. Relief Rally was in front a...

Arguably the week's most momentous race, Wednesday's G1 Prince of Wales's S. is as tight as it gets between a trio of hardcore middle-distance soldiers from all the right establishments. From Moulton Paddocks' 2021 Derby winner Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) to Freemason Lodge's Champion S. winner Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) to Ballydoyle's Irish Champion hero Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), this renewal could come down to small margins and tactical decisions, much as it did last year. Not yet a Group 1 winner, but so obviously an imminent one,...

The winners of Gulfstream Park's $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile S. and $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies S., both set for May 13, each will earn an automatic entry into one of Royal Ascot's six 2-year-old races. The two five-furlong turf events will be the first-ever U.S. automatic qualifiers for a race at Royal Ascot. Additionally, the connections will receive a $25,000 equine travel stipend. "1/ST RACING is thrilled to announce this new global partnership with Ascot Racecourse," Aidan Butler, Chief Executive Officer, 1/ST Racing & Gaming, said. "Gulfstream Park is...

Making it two-for-two for the TDN Rising Stars in Royal Ascot's juvenile prizes, Clipper Logistics' Dramatised (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}--Katie's Diamond {Fr}, by Turtle Bowl {Ire}) put up an impressive display in a fast time in Wednesday's G2 Queen Mary S. under an in-form Danny Tudhope. Handed the monicker after her dynamic four-length debut win at Newmarket Apr. 29, the filly that Karl Burke regards as the fastest he has had through his hands was backed into 5-2 favouritism and raced near the front line towards the stand's side early. Committed...

She has waited long enough, it seems, and the time has finally arrived for the rekindling of Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at Royal Ascot. Denied outings in the Arc, the Breeders' Cup and the Tattersalls Gold Cup, Ballydoyle's G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Epsom Oaks heroine has everything in her favour at last as the sun beats down on the famed Berkshire strip. Successful in her three 3-year-old starts--which also included the G1 Yorkshire Oaks--by a cumulative margin of 18 1/2 lengths, the chestnut lines up against the colts for...

Undefeated Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) will head straight to the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland after connections decided to forego next weekend's G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket. Campaigned by Stonestreet Stables, the Wesley Ward-trained filly broke her maiden at Gulfstream Park May 31 before taking the G2 Queen Mary S. during the Royal meeting at Ascot June 20. In her latest start at Deauville Aug. 23, she gave her trainer his third victory in the G1 Darley Prix Morny. "We took her out of...

No one could win from stall one. That's what Stonestreet Stables' Barbara Banke heard throughout the Royal Ascot Meeting as she prepared to watch her juvenile filly Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) make her second lifetime start in the G2 Queen Mary S. on the final day of the meet. "All during the week I kept hearing that nobody was winning from the one post position, and that we probably couldn't either," Banke said. [tdn_vimeo_embed title="Royal Ascot winner Campanelle " admp4="https://player.vimeo.com/external/418394033.sd.mp4?s=0121a3f9c4d43a70d24b60066df4ab4d2e6ba32c&profile_id=165" videomp4= "https://player.vimeo.com/external/434718483.sd.mp4?s=62363e673d01aaf9d1573e14441445f358bc854d&profile_id=165" thumbnail= ""] So from California, the top American...

Wesley Ward runner Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who won the G2 Queen Mary S. on Saturday, is being targeted at the G1 Prix Morny at Deauville in France later this summer. Ward was not on hand at Royal Ascot due to the ongoing coronavirus, but instead watched from his base at Keeneland. He said, "The Prix Morny is where we're headed [with Campanelle]. She'll come home now and have a couple of gallops on the beautiful grass here in Keeneland, and hopefully then she'll be ready to ship to Deauville....