ROYAL ASCOT THURSDAY: Scandinavia brings up O’Brien’s century in a thriller 19 June 2026 Premium

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19 June 2026

Rory Delargy on 19 Jun 2026

ROYAL ASCOT THURSDAY: Scandinavia brings up O’Brien’s century in a thriller

"Scandinavia is king, but Trawlerman, by making the winner fight to the very end, was the kingmaker," writes Rory Delargy

Rory Delargy

19 June 2026

"He’s relentless," Aidan O'Brien said after Scandinavia (near) denied Trawlerman (far) \ Healy Racing

A riderless Lady Roisia gallops on as Earth Shot (right) beats Johanna Walsh (centre) in the Ribblesdale Stakes \ Healy Racing Photo

Nola Soul and Seamus Heffernan win the Chesham Stakes for Fozzy Stack \ Healy Racing

"He is a group horse in the making, hopefully," Joseph O'Brien on Enceladus \ Healy Racing

18-6-26 Royal Ascot. Scandinavia won the Gold Cup (Group 1) for Aidan O'Brien. Healy Racing Photo

Ascot Gold Cup (Group 1)

WELL-BACKED favourite Scandinavia (Aidan O’Brien/Ryan Moore) had clearly read the script and landed the day’s feature race after a titanic tussle with defending champion Trawlerman (Charlie Appleby/William Buick), getting up yards from the line to score by a head and, in doing so, provided the Master of Ballydoyle with a record-breaking 100th Royal Ascot success.