JOSEPH O’Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle are always a force to be reckoned with, but even more so now at Royal Ascot, fresh from Thundering On’s Epsom Oaks heroics and James J Braddock’s fine third in the Epsom Derby.

The Owning Hill operation is well-represented at entry stage, with a particularly strong show for the opening day at the meeting, where they came close to landing the Wolferton Stakes 12 months ago with Galen.

The Gleneagles gelding was beaten three parts of a length on that occasion by Haatem, the twice classic-placed winner carrying 5lb less due to Galen’s win in the Alleged Stakes two months prior.

“He ran well in it last year and he goes back there without a penalty,” O’Brien told The Irish Field.

“Adelaide River is in that race also; he ran well on his first run for us (finished third in the Mooresbridge Stakes).”

The first day of Royal Ascot was frustrating for O’Brien last year – in the previous race, the Ascot Stakes, he saddled the second, third and fourth home.

The trainer has entered 10 in a bid to go one better next week, and highlighted Puturhandstogether and Galileo Dame as his short-priced fancies following their respective seventh and fourth in the Chester Cup. Of eight entered in the Copper Horse Stakes, O’Brien mentioned last year’s fifth, Aeronautic, who reopposes off 1lb lower.

“He’s run well in some good handicaps. He’s had a good break and was trained for this race,” he commented.

New recruit

Ruler’s Control, who won the first two-year-old maiden of the year for Jack Foley, will make his first start for O’Brien in the Windsor Castle Stakes. Now owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, the Territories colt will be joined by $140,000 breeze-up buy One Number, who caught the eye on debut when finishing second at the Curragh.

“They’re both nice types that had good debuts,’O’Brien said. On the yard’s latest addition, the trainer added: “He’s not with us as long as you would think. Faster ground would be a question mark for him, but he obviously looked a nice horse first time out.”

On Thursday’s targets, O’Brien continued: “In the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes, we have Omni Man and Emit – both horses who have form in good races – and Al Riffa might run in the Ascot Gold Cup.

Green Empress now dons the colours of the Thoroughbred Racing Corporation following her debut second to Sun Goddess at the Curragh, when carrying the colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede. O’Brien is still deciding between the Windsor Castle Stakes and the Albany Stakes for the Saxon Warrior filly.

It remains to be seen whether Green Sense carries the ‘double green’ silks at Ascot, as the Group 2 winner will be offered at the Goffs London Sale on Monday evening. On the Phoenix Stakes third, who finished sixth on return last month, O’Brien said: “We have to be open-minded in terms of change of ownership, they might have different ideas, but we’ve been planning to run in the Coronation Stakes or the Jersey Stakes, with maybe a slight preference towards the Jersey.”

Other planned runners are last year’s Wolferton Stakes fifth Sons And Lovers in the Hardwicke Stakes, Coventry Stakes fourth Andab in the Jersey Stakes and Chester Cup victor A Piece Of Heaven in the Queen Alexandra Stakes.