THE Irish challenge for Royal Ascot was dealt some blows in the weeks beforehand, three leading chances in Kyprios, Porta Fortuna and Albert Einstein ruled out of the meeting, so two winners on the opening day of the meeting was no bad return.

Gstaad is the sort of name that will get the pronunciation police in a twist, but everyone knows about him after his Coventry romp where he put in a particularly sharp penultimate furlong that took upwards of two lengths out of the field and settled the race.

Having initially raced near side with other high drawn horses, Ryan Moore moved to the middle of the track to make his challenge, typically not ideal at Ascot where the wings tend to be favoured, and this was coming on just his second start.

An interesting part of the post-race debrief was Aidan O’Brien only wanting to talk about Albert Einstein who he described in glowing terms though he has long passed the point of being the trainer who cried unique too often.

The Albert Einstein form was well represented in the Coventry, the second and third from the Marble Hill running similar races to finish fourth and fifth here, Gstaad beating them further than the apparent stable first-string juvenile had at the Curragh.

Clubhouse leader

Albert Einstein was better than the form then, only getting an out late and not helped by racing behind in a tailwind, but now Gstaad is the leader in the clubhouse in form terms, and his stablemate has some catching up to do when recovering from his setback.

The other Irish winner Ascending formed part of an Irish 1-2-3-4 in the Ascot Stakes with Joseph O’Brien supplying the three placed runners. This was a first Royal Ascot success for Henry de Bromhead, a fourth in the 2022 Jersey Stakes with Star Girls Aalmal the best he had managed previously and rates as a fine training performance as he figured out what the winner was good at.

Ascending was a failed hurdler, getting beaten in several maiden hurdles at short prices when making mistakes, but has been a different horse switched to the flat where his form figures now read: 22111.

The steady pace meant there were hard luck stories in behind, the well-backed Reaching High one of those while Divine Comedy and Alphonse Le Grande would also have finished closer with a clear run.

Brighter days for Copacabana

IT has been a good weather week at Ascot, but that was not the case at home in the days before the meeting, Downpatrick abandoned due to surface water lying on the track last Saturday, and Leopardstown taking a huge amount of rain the Thursday before.

That led to stamina-sapping conditions at Leopardstown, and the jockeys added to them by going hard in most races on the card, finishing speed percentages for many runners in the 90s as they slowed up late.

Copacabana Sands was hardly named for that weather but seemed to thrive on the slow ground, confirming herself one of the success stories of the first half of the flat season as she had improved 30lbs from 76 to 106. She looked better than ever here, and her hold-up style suited a strongly run race where the first five came from off the pace, the good gallop sorting the runners out as she avoided the trouble she has sometimes met in more steadily run contests.

Decision

Wayne Lordan’s decision to take her wide in the straight was likely an advantage too, that route often providing better ground at Leopardstown after rain, and Michael O’Callaghan’s idea to give her a break after this makes sense as she has been busy and should get her preferred surface when returning later in the year.

If the outer route was an advantage, and the results of the later races suggested it was, then the third Zodiac Bear was better than the result having been more towards the inner than the two that beat him.

He was also the least exposed of the field having had just two maiden runs before this, while the ground might have been slower than ideal, Johnny Murtagh saying after his maiden win at this track last month that he enjoyed a decent surface.

Murtagh trained the most impressive winner of the evening in Shaool later, the visuals backed up by an excellent time, much faster than the three other races over nine furlongs on the card, and she may be able to defy an 11lbs penalty if getting this sort of ground again.

Narlita finished sixth in the same race but shaped better than her finishing position, making a decent move on the unfavoured inner before flattening out late, a drift on the show suggesting this run might have been needed after an 88-day absence.

Fine start

Murtagh has made a fine start to this season with 21 winners at the time of writing, all of them three- or four-year-olds, but there was promise from his two runners in the opening juvenile maiden.

Elly Bay (a half-sister to Asian Daze) was third to Brownstown, coming from a long way back and doing so down the rail, while the fifth Bellamano shaped at least as well.

An unconsidered 50/1 shot, she made a good move into the race from halfway and wasn’t knocked about late when green.

Nurseries make most sense than maidens and this was a positive debut.

THE best Irish card in quality terms this past week came at Cork last Friday, Paddy Twomey winning the Munster Oaks for the third time since 2022, this time with Magical Hope who had improved little on her Irish debut at the Curragh.

She was well-positioned close to a steady pace by Colin Keane who if anything seems to have gotten more confidence from his new Juddmonte position, though the absence of Elizabeth Jane made her task easier.

The Weld filly has not had her ground yet this year, twice a non-runner already. She looked very good in winning the Trigo last October, with the promise of more to come over 12 furlongs plus and holds an entry in the Irish Leger.

The Mallow Premier Handicap was typically competitive with 19 runners, but a potential draw bias meant that some of the field had little chance with the first six home drawn 17, 15, 18, 10, 6 and 1.

Fort Vega got the big win he has been threatening this season but could struggle off his revised mark as he only had the high numbered stalls to beat.

Of those drawn low, the three-year-old Storm Piece shaped well on handicap debut while his stall one meant that he got caught out on the wing for much of the race.

He might be a bit obvious, however, and the fifth I Am Superman is just as interesting. He is a nine-year-old now but retains plenty of ability, and his mark has dropped from 99 at the start of the year down the 89 here.

He did best of the low drawn runners here and looks rated to win a handicap off his falling mark.