Tuesday
Diego Velazquez will be our only runner in the Queen Anne Stakes. This is his first run of the season because he was withdrawn from a race at Leopardstown last month after playing up in the stalls, which was very unlike him. He has done really well from three to four and is working very well at home, but he’ll obviously improve a lot for the run. He’s going there in the best shape we can get him without a run. The fast ground will suit him.
It’s a shame Albert Einstein misses the Coventry Stakes having sprained a joint, but we still have two likely runners in Gstaad and Warsaw. Gstaad is a Starspangledbanner half-brother to Vandeek, who won well on his debut at Navan. I don’t think Chris Hayes even gave him a flick of the whip. He was trapped down the inside rail and, when he got the gap, he really picked up to beat Wayne’s filly [True Love], who we think is very good.
Warsaw also won at Navan first time out, but it was only last Saturday and it was over five furlongs. He was ridden by [apprentice] Jack Cleary and, for his debut, he was fairly professional and galloped out through the line. Six furlongs looks his trip – I’d say he will get seven in time. Obviously it’s a quick back-up for him, but he has been going nicely at home.
It’s hard to split the two of them at the moment. They will have one more piece of work before Ryan [Moore] decides which one he wants to ride.
We have Henri Matisse in the St James’s Palace Stakes. Officer is also a likely runner and possibly First Wave could be there to do a job. It’s shaping up to be an unbelievable race, with Field Of Gold and Ruling Court having a rematch. Henri Matisse was impressive in the French Guineas where Ryan gave him a brilliant ride. He was a Breeders’ Cup winner last year and has progressed nicely this season.
He’s out of Immortal Verse, dam of Tenebrism and Statuette, and he has the same devastating turn of foot that they had. He appreciates an end-to-end gallop over a mile and being played late, like Ryan did in France, is how he likes it. Hopefully it’ll work out on Tuesday.
We run True Love in the Queen Mary. She’s had two runs and is still a maiden, but they were two very promising runs. She progressed mentally and physically from her first run to her second start and has progressed more at home since her last start. True Love is a very quick filly, who will appreciate the quick ground and returning to five furlongs. She is held in high regard. She was second to Ger Lyons’ good filly [Lady Iman] over five furlongs on her debut and then the six furlong race at Navan just presented itself at the right time for her. She was beaten by Gstaad there, but Wayne was very happy with her that day and he thinks she will be even better back down to five furlongs. I suppose if Gstaad runs well in the Coventry, it will be a good omen for her!
Shackleton and Scandinavia will be our two for the Queen’s Vase. Shackleton had good form as a two-year-old, group placed. In his one run so far this year, he jumped out slowly over 10 furlongs. He was fresh beforehand and fresh in the race. He’s improved a lot, fitness-wise, and the mile and six furlongs will suit him. By Camelot, he should stay well.
Scandinavia had three good runs as a two-year-old and then broke his maiden at Navan over a mile and a quarter. It mightn’t have been the strongest race but, in fairness, the horse was carrying plenty of condition and he did everything right and won nicely at the line. He’s another horse who is going to appreciate the step up in trip.
The Prince of Wales’s Stakes is looking like the best race of the week. Los Angeles goes there in great form having won a very good edition of the Tattersalls Gold Cup. He’s the one we are all looking forward to. Some of those he beat at the Curragh are taking him on again.
There was an unbelievable field up against him at the Curragh and he toughed it out. He’s a typical Camelot, you know, they’re very tough, genuine horses. When Anmaat came to challenge him, it looked like he might go past, but Los Angeles always keeps a bit up his sleeve. He’s lazy but when you need him he’s there for you.
The Arc is his long-term plan for him. He could go for the King George too, but Jan Brueghel is also in the frame for that race now.
Los Angeles will be joined in the Prince of Wales’s by Continuous, to make the pace. Continuous jumped a bit slow in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and couldn’t help Los Angeles, but he did set a nice pace in the Coronation Cup last week.
Our Windsor Castle Stakes runner will be First Approach. By No Nay Never, he’s had three runs, twice over five furlongs and then he finished fourth in the Marble Hill over six. Wayne felt that day that he’d be best just coming back to five. He has a lot of natural speed and experience, and he goes there with an each-way chance.
Charles Darwin runs in the Norfolk Stakes. He’s a full-brother to Blackbeard and is a similar type to him in a lot of ways. He’s had three runs, which is a plus going into Ascot. He was very impressive on his last start at Naas and we think he’ll be suited by five furlongs at Ascot on quick ground.
We’ve got a few possibles for the King George V Handicap, headed by Serious Contender and Light As Air, who finished first and second in a Leopardstown handicap at the end of March.
Personally speaking, I think Serious Contender is one of our best handicap hopes of the week. Galveston and Roosevelt are others in that division, who could have multiple entries and would be worth following.
There are three fillies in the mix for the Ribblesdale Stakes – Ecstatic, Garden Of Eden and Island Hopping. This is a race that often throws up a surprise winner and all three of ours are improving and entitled to take their chances.
Garden Of Eden won an Oaks trial over 10 furlongs and she will appreciate stepping up to a mile and a half.
Unfortunately, we don’t have Kyprios any more and so the Gold Cup baton has been handed over to Illinois. He won the Queen’s Vase here last year and has top-class form, getting within a neck of both Los Angeles and Jan Brueghel in different races before winning a Group 2 at ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend over a mile and seven. 
He progressed very nicely physically from three to four and Ryan was delighted with him at Chester last month. He’s a big, imposing horse and Chester was tight enough for him. You never know if a horse is going to stay two and a half miles until you get them there, but the way he races will help him. He’s a typical Galileo, ultra-tough. He’s had 10 starts and never been out of the first three. He just failed by a neck to beat Jan Brueghel in the St Leger, so I think he’s got the class.
We have two for the Britannia – Serengeti and Mississippi River.
Trinity College should have a very big chance in the Hampton Court. Aidan has always held him in very high regard. He won his two-year-old maiden by 12 lengths and then was not beaten far in Group 2 and Group 3 races in the autumn.
He started this season by winning a conditions race at Naas and then he went to Epsom for a trial where maybe he was a touch unlucky not to win, or maybe the undulations there did not suit him.
But he stepped up again in the Prix du Jockey Club, running an unbelievable race to finish fourth, only beaten a length by Camille Pissaro. You would have to think that if he can bring that form to Ascot, he should have a serious chance.
Friday
We run Signora in the Albany Stakes. She’s by Frankel out of Heartache, who won the Queen Mary for Clive Cox, so that makes her a full-sister to Exactly. She has only had the one run, when finishing third to Lady Iman in a Group 3 at Naas last month. That form is rock-solid. So she goes to Ascot as a maiden, but she’s a filly who has shown a lot of promise from her early days and has a nice chance. Ideally, you would have preferred to get one more run into her, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about it. I think she’s a filly with an awful lot of ability.
Whistlejacket and Ides Of March run in the Commonwealth Cup. Whistlejacket has ground to make up on Babouche, having finished second to her at Naas, but I think he had excuses that day. If you look at the sectionals, it wasn’t an even pace throughout. He’ll appreciate a properly-run six furlongs. Also he was a bit edgy in the stalls and knocked his nose off the front gates. It didn’t cost him the race, but you just want everything to go right and it didn’t that day. We’ve had him in the stalls since and there’s no issue.
Ides Of March is progressing from run to run. At Newbury last time, he was just drawn away from the winner and had to come up the middle of the track.
It’s a shame we don’t have Lake Victoria for the Coronation Stakes. She’s had a little setback and should be back later in the summer. In her absence, we run Exactly and January next Friday. 
Exactly had plenty of runs at two and it stood to her, winning a Group 3 at the end of the year. She ran a lovely race first time out this year when second to Swelter at Leopardstown, and she ran a massive race to be fourth in the French Guineas after suffering a little bit of interference, twice actually. If she had gotten a clear run, she might have won.
She’s extremely genuine, has progressed from run to run and goes to Ascot with a live chance.
January only made her seasonal debut in the Irish Guineas, finishing eighth but she was carrying plenty of condition and her fitness has come on. As a two-year-old, she ran a massive race at Doncaster in the May Hill to finish second to Desert Flower. That was on good to soft ground, which wouldn’t be to her liking. A mile on good ground or quicker will suit her.
In the Sandringham, we run Sweet Chariot. She finished second in a big field handicap at the Curragh in early May and then ran fifth in a Group 3 race at Leopardstown.
The Lingfield Derby Trial winner Puppet Master goes for the King Edward VII Stakes. We might run something else in the race, but I would say Ryan will ride Puppet Master. He has improved since Lingfield. Stay True, who finished second to him at Lingfield, is being given more time and misses Ascot.
We have two fillies – Moments Of Joy and Minerva - for the Chesham Stakes, though they both have another bit of work to do before a decision is made. They finished first and third in a Leopardstown maiden earlier this month. Wayne was on the winner that day – she did everything right - and Ryan was on Minerva who was very green.
Storm Boy runs in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. He came to us in December with very good Australian form. We got one run into him in the Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh and a lot has been said about that race.
He finished last of nine, but the race didn’t work out for him. He didn’t do things right himself, he met interference, and we knew he was going to improve an awful lot. It was a learning experience for him. He has enormous potential and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a very different performance next Saturday.