DAY FIVE Saturday June 23 here was a time RUNNING ORDER when the Saturday of Royal Ascot week Twas very much the poor 2.30 Chesham Stakes (Listed) 7f 2yo £90,000 relation. ey called it Ascot Last year’s winner: September 11-8f Heath and it was devoid of both Group races and top 3.05 Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2) 1m4f 4yo+ £225,000 hats – all Ascot and no Last year’s winner: Idaho 9-2 Royal, if you like. en in 2002, to commemorate the 3.40 Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed) 5f 2yo £90,000 Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the Last year’s winner: Sound And Silence 16-1 Saturday was embraced by 4.20 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Group 1) 6f 4yo+ £600,000 the rest of the meeting – just Last year’s winner: The Tin Man 9-2 for one year, so they said – and it never looked back. 5.00 Wokingham Stakes (Handicap) 6f 3yo+ £175,000 e Group 2 Cork and Last year’s winner: Out Do 25-1 Orrery Stakes was moved from the ursday to anachronism at this glittering Stakes going in the opposite 5.35 Queen Alexandra Stakes (Conditions) 2m6f 4yo+ £90,000 become the jewel in the meeting, often being direction. Last year’s winner: Oriental Fox 10-1 crown of the nal day, given plundered by jumps trainers e Diamond Jubilee sits Race value is total prize-money Group 1 status and renamed and attracting runners from as the centrepiece of the card the Golden Jubilee Stakes, the rst day’s two-and-a-half- and the speedfest does not then ten years later renamed mile Ascot Handicap, with end there, as it is followed by the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, Simenon the last to complete the Wokingham Handicap. since when it has become an the double in 2012. is is the burn-up to end all integral part of the Global e Saturday begins as burn-ups, a cavalry charge of Sprint Challenge, attracting usual with the Listed the top six-furlong winners of the calibre of seven-furlong Chesham handicappers, all looking for Choisir and Black Caviar, all Stakes for two-year-olds, but precious gaps through which the way from Australia. then there has been a change to launch their high-velocity e rise of the six-furlong to the schedule, with the challenges. Diamond Jubilee has Group 2 Hardwicke e Queen mirrored the ascent of the Stakes raised up Alexandra may Saturday card to form a the order lead us out of thrilling climax to the big and the week at a week rather than a low-key followed more tailpiece, dominated by by the sedate speed yet rounded o by the Windsor pace, but longest Flat race in the entire Castle it does so calendar. Stakes, as the nal e Queen Alexandra which has event on a Stakes, run over two miles been moved card that is now and six furlongs, was from the as top-hatted and instituted in 1864 and sits as Tuesday with regal as the rest a proud, stamina-sapping the Wolferton of the week. 92 93 DAY FIVE Saturday June 23 here was a time RUNNING ORDER when the Saturday of Royal Ascot week Twas very much the poor 2.30 Chesham Stakes (Listed) 7f 2yo £90,000 relation. ey called it Ascot Last year’s winner: September 11-8f Heath and it was devoid of both Group races and top 3.05 Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2) 1m4f 4yo+ £225,000 hats – all Ascot and no Last year’s winner: Idaho 9-2 Royal, if you like. en in 2002, to commemorate the 3.40 Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed) 5f 2yo £90,000 Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the Last year’s winner: Sound And Silence 16-1 Saturday was embraced by 4.20 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Group 1) 6f 4yo+ £600,000 the rest of the meeting – just Last year’s winner: The Tin Man 9-2 for one year, so they said – and it never looked back. 5.00 Wokingham Stakes (Handicap) 6f 3yo+ £175,000 e Group 2 Cork and Last year’s winner: Out Do 25-1 Orrery Stakes was moved from the ursday to anachronism at this glittering Stakes going in the opposite 5.35 Queen Alexandra Stakes (Conditions) 2m6f 4yo+ £90,000 become the jewel in the meeting, often being direction. Last year’s winner: Oriental Fox 10-1 crown of the nal day, given plundered by jumps trainers e Diamond Jubilee sits Race value is total prize-money Group 1 status and renamed and attracting runners from as the centrepiece of the card the Golden Jubilee Stakes, the rst day’s two-and-a-half- and the speedfest does not then ten years later renamed mile Ascot Handicap, with end there, as it is followed by the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, Simenon the last to complete the Wokingham Handicap. since when it has become an the double in 2012. is is the burn-up to end all integral part of the Global e Saturday begins as burn-ups, a cavalry charge of Sprint Challenge, attracting usual with the Listed the top six-furlong winners of the calibre of seven-furlong Chesham handicappers, all looking for Choisir and Black Caviar, all Stakes for two-year-olds, but precious gaps through which the way from Australia. then there has been a change to launch their high-velocity e rise of the six-furlong to the schedule, with the challenges. Diamond Jubilee has Group 2 Hardwicke e Queen mirrored the ascent of the Stakes raised up Alexandra may Saturday card to form a the order lead us out of thrilling climax to the big and the week at a week rather than a low-key followed more tailpiece, dominated by by the sedate speed yet rounded o by the Windsor pace, but longest Flat race in the entire Castle it does so calendar. Stakes, as the nal e Queen Alexandra which has event on a Stakes, run over two miles been moved card that is now and six furlongs, was from the as top-hatted and instituted in 1864 and sits as Tuesday with regal as the rest a proud, stamina-sapping the Wolferton of the week. 92 93 DAY FIVE 2.30 Chesham Stakes his Listed contest Key trends single representative (from is now the rst ▶By a sire with a stamina six runners in total). of two races for index of at least 8.7f, 9/10 e other main trainer to two-year-olds on ▶Raced just once, 8/10 (ve 200 EXPERTS T watch is John Gosden, who the nal day, with the had won) has had a winner, a Windsor Castle Stakes still to ▶Adjusted RPR of at least 91, runner-up and a third from come, and at 7f it is the 8/10 just six runners in the past IN YOUR HAND longest of the week for that ▶Rated within 9lb of RPR decade. Again he has done age group. It is designed to top-rated, 7/10 best in years when he had DOWNLOAD OUR FREE APP NOW provide an early stamina test ▶Recorded Topspeed gure in only a single runner. for youngsters, being open excess of 64, 7/10 Most of the big-priced only to horses whose sires Other factors winners have come in the won over a distance of ▶Last year, September became past decade, with four of the 1m2f-plus in their own the rst winner to have last nine sent o in double racing careers. previously won over 7f since gures. It is no surprise, then, that Bach in 1999 (both trained In the longer term, since Aidan O’Brien – the by Aidan O’Brien) the distance was raised to 7f dominant force in Classics ▶e record of llies is 2-33 in 1996, the majority of both at a mile and over winners have been well middle distances – has won fancied. Seven of the 22 three times in the last seven likely to eld a strong winners in that period had years, including the last two candidate nowadays and his market leadership, with a runnings with Churchill and ten runners in the past further 11 in the top four in September. decade have produced three the betting. He rst won the race in wins, two seconds, a third Most of the winners had 1999 with Bach but then did and a fourth – interestingly, raced only once, with 15 of not strike again until 2011 his three winners have come the 22 having won (12 had with Maybe. He is always in years when he had just a won their sole start). Story of the last ten years FORM WINNER AGE & WGT Adj RPR SP TRAINER BEST RPR LAST 12 MONTHS (RUNS SINCE) 17 1 September D 2 8-12 107T 11-8f Aidan O’Brien (IRE) won Leopardstown mdn (7f) (0) 16 3 Churchill BF 2 9-3 95-9 8-11f Aidan O’Brien (IRE) 3rd Curragh mdn (6f) (0) 15 1 Sunny Way 2 9-3 91-7 14-1 Eoghan O’Neill (FR) won Maisons-Laffitte mdn (6f) (0) 14 4 Richard Pankhurst BF 2 9-3 87-23 10-1 John Gosden 4th Newmarket Class 4 mdn (6f) (0) 13 3 Berkshire 2 9-3 90-11 16-1 Paul Cole 3rd Newbury Class 4 mdn (6f) (0) 12 41 Tha’ir 2 9-3 109-1 9-2 Saeed Bin Suroor won Ripon Class 5 mdn (6f) (0) 11 1 Maybe 2 8-12 109T 5-2f Aidan O’Brien (IRE) won Naas mdn (6f) (0) 10 1 Zaidan 2 9-3 98-3 7-1 Clive Brittain won Doncaster Class 5 mdn (5f) (0) 09 42 Big Audio 2 9-3 91-12 22-1 Richard Hannon Snr 2nd Doncaster Class 5 mdn (6f) (0) 08 1 Free Agent 2 9-3 98T 7-2j Richard Hannon Snr won Leicester Class 4 mdn (6f) (0) FAVOURITES £-0.37 TRAINERS IN THIS RACE (w-pl-r) Aidan O’Brien 3-3-10, John Gosden 1-2-6, Paul Cole 1-0-3, Charlie Hills 0-0-2, Eve Johnson Houghton WHEN YOU BET ON RACING, 0-0-2, James Tate 0-0-2, Mark Johnston 0-2-12, Michael Bell 0-0-2, Richard Hannon 0-0-4, Simon Crisford 0-0-2 YOU CAN BET ON RACING POST.