Views from connections ahead of Friday's feature races at Royal Ascot
Check out the latest views from leading connections ahead of Friday's feature races at Royal Ascot.
1430 Albany Stakes
Richard Hannon has two chances in the Albany Stakes, with Kemble and Separate lining up in a 25-runner field.
"I was a little disappointed with Kemble first time at Newmarket, but that race has turned out very well. The winner was favourite for the Queen Mary and the second came out and won the Marygate. That is very good form," said Hannon in his Unibet blog.
"When she went to Windsor she bolted up and looked a good filly. Since Windsor, she has really matured, she looks great. Separate ran into a very good horse of Paul Cole's first time. Second time she got no luck in that Marygate Fillies' Stakes, she would have run very well. Last time she was the best filly in the race and she won as I expected her to. She's a very disciplined filly, she deals with everything very well."
Wesley Ward runs Nayibeth and Chili Petin and said on attheraces.com of the former: "She's always been my favourite of all my two-year-olds from when we started breezing them early on."
1505 King Edward VII Stakes
John Gosden hopes bypassing the Investec Derby with Private Secretary pays dividends in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot on Friday.
Winner of all three of his races this season after finishing second twice at two, he ran in what Gosden refers to as the "Jack Hobbs" race at Sandown off a mark of just 83.
Like the subsequent Group One winner, he had no trouble in winning that and followed up in a Listed race at Goodwood.
Gosden said: "He was never going to run in the Derby and he was always going to come to this race as a fresh horse. He is in great form. We are testing him trip-wise, as he is by Kingman. He was ridden at Goodwood to get the trip. I'm sure Frankie (Dettori) will tuck him in and switch him off to see if he is good enough. I am very happy with the horse, though."
Gosden is also represented by Humanitarian, who ran an excellent race to be seventh in the Derby to Anthony Van Dyck.
Setting the form standard is Aidan O'Brien's Japan, beaten less than a length at Epsom in third.
"We haven't done a lot with him since the Derby, but he seems in good order since then," O'Brien told www.attheraces.com. "We thought he would take a big forward from the Dante to the Derby and we were delighted with his run there. He has the potential to improve again."
O'Brien also runs the unexposed Jack Yeats.
Andrew Balding's Bangkok, fancied for the Derby but disappointing, and William Haggas' Pablo Escobarr, second to Anthony Van Dyck at Lingfield, also hold claims.
Balding said: "I really don't know what happened in the Derby as his run was way below expectations. His work has been great since, as it was before. Nothing came to light, so we will try again and he seems in good form. We did consider coming back in trip for the Hampton Court, but we had other runners in that. His pedigree suggests he will stay.
"Silvestre (de Sousa) felt it was the track rather than the trip at Epsom, so we will try again. I would be a little worried about the ground and that is another unknown."
1540 Coronation Stakes
Aidan O'Brien expects Ten Sovereigns will feel the benefit of dropping back in trip to six furlongs when he lines up in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot on Friday.
The No Nay Never colt was unbeaten in three juvenile outings, culminating with victory in the Middle Park Stakes over this sprint trip last autumn.
Ten Sovereigns was sent off favourite for the Qipco 2000 Guineas on his return last month and while he could finish only fifth, O'Brien was satisfied with his effort but believes a sprint trip will suit him better still.
He said: "He travelled so well in the Guineas, he ran a great race but this was the trip he was very comfortable at last year so you'd imagine he'll be happy. He was still in front on his side in the Guineas until late on having been up there all the way so we were actually delighted with him in the Guineas."
Jash was beaten just half a length by Ten Sovereigns in the Middle Park and he will try to reverse that form in the feature race on day four.
Trained by Simon Crisford for Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, Jash did not make his reappearance until the middle of May, winning a Newmarket Listed event, with second-placed Azano subsequently boosting the form with a win in France.
Angus Gold, the owner's racing manager, said: "He is an interesting horse. In my opinion he doesn't look like an out-and-out sprinter as he is a big, long, leggy horse who looks to go over a distance of ground.
"He took a long time to come right this spring, so we have only been able to get one run into him and have not been able to experiment enough to say one way or the other. But he was only just beaten in the Middle Park last year, so I can't argue that he is not a six-furlong horse so we will see in the Commonwealth Cup if we are right about this trip or of we need to go further in time.
"Jash is a light-framed horse and normally they don't want it too soft. I'm sure the race at Newmarket has brought him on. I'm sure Simon will say this as well, but he looked poor all spring and I was worried about him and he didn't look right when he ran. I saw him 10 days ago and he has absolutely turned a corner. He has blossomed in his coat and looks really well now. I'm sure he is in a better place now."
Sheikh Hamdan has a second string to his bow in the Charlie Hills-trained Khaadem, who won a Listed contest at Newbury last time out.
Gold added: "Khaadem, for me, is bred to be a sharp horse and looks it. I think he is a talented horse. He is buzzy and we have just got to keep on top of him. To be fair, he did nothing wrong the other day at Newbury. Is he good enough - who knows? We have got to take on Ten Sovereigns among others so we will see.
"I think Khaadem will handle a bit of easier ground - whether it stretches his stamina, that is another matter - but in terms of underfoot conditions he would handle that."
Advertise finished a disappointing 15th in the 2000 Guineas, but Martyn Meade felt the colt had a valid excuse as he subsequently shut down his yard for a few weeks as his horses were under the weather.
The son of Showcasing had previously won three of his five two-year-old outings, including the Phoenix Stakes, and he will be sporting first-time blinkers in this Group One, which features as part of the Qipco British Champion Series.
Meade said: "We have to put a line through that run as it was obviously not him. He should have finished much closer. It was not a disaster but I was expecting much better than that. One can only put it down to the fact that he was a little bit below-par. It must have been one of those untraceable viruses because everything else was right with him. We scoped him immediately after the race and his blood was perfect.
"It's why we had a month off and hopefully he will now reproduce what he is capable of. His form ties in with all the top two-year-old performers - he's just got to reproduce it. I've been happy with the way the horses have been running since we called a halt."
Rumble InThejungle finished fourth in the Norfolk Stakes at this meeting last year, but has not run since taking third place in the Middle Park.
Trainer Richard Spencer said: "He was slow to come to come to hand and we didn't want to rush him. He's a very good horse and there's no point running them when they are not 110 per cent right.
"He's come good in the last three weeks. We've been patient and I think it's probably the best thing we could have done."
1620 Coronation Stakes
Hermosa bids to cement her place at the head of the fillies' mile division with a third Group One success in Friday's Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Aidan O'Brien's charge fell short in three attempts at the top level as a juvenile, but after springing a 14-1 surprise in the Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, she has since added the Irish equivalent to her CV and is a hot favourite to strike further gold after being rerouted from the French Oaks.
Her trainer said: "Obviously her two runs have been over a mile this season. We were delighted with her at Newmarket and delighted with her at the Curragh. She's been well since then.
"We were going to go to France (for last Sunday's Prix de Diane) but decided to stick to a mile as we think Ascot will suit her, she should be fine on the track. We're looking forward to running her."
Jubiloso is rated as Hermosa's main challenger despite the fact this will be only her third outing and she is stepping right up in class after winning just a maiden and a novice to date.
Her trainer Sir Michael Stoute said: "It will be a big step up for Jubiloso as she has only won a maiden and a novice race. But she has been very impressive and is progressive. She is a classy filly.
"Whether she is good enough to take on the fillies in the Coronation Stakes, we will find out.
"It may be a bit soon for her, but we have to give it a go."
Jubiloso is by Shamardal out of Joyeuse, a half-sister to Frankel, and while Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner Khalid Abdullah, admits her pedigree fits the bill, her form requires a massive improvement.
He said: "It's a huge ask. People must look at the pedigree and think she must be a Group One filly. Her work has suggested she is pretty useful.
"Whether she is up to this standard, we don't know, but we very much hope she will be. She has got a bit to prove as she has gone from Chelmsford to a novice at Newbury and now you're looking at a Group One against the best three-year-old mile fillies.
"Everything she has done so far suggest she deserves to go.
"I think you would have liked to have had one more race, just because she is relatively inexperienced, but then again, for three-year-old mile fillies this is last chance saloon as she will have to meet older horses further along the line.
"You never know if they will handle the occasion until it is upon you and you can't simulate it."
In addition to Hermosa, there are two other Classic winners lining up with Mark Johnston's German Guineas-winning Main Edition trying to transfer her Dusseldorf form to British soil.
The trainer said: "It's a huge jump from her German Guineas form to the Coronation, but this is a horse who on last year's form was aimed at the English Guineas.
"We didn't feel she was in great form for the Nell Gwyn (when seventh) so we switched the plan, went to Germany and got a Group Two and a Classic in the bag. Now we are back on track shooting at the big one.
"She's got an awful lot to find, but it's nice to have that win under our belt and, of course, she won at the meeting last year."
Mot Juste chased home Qabala, her stablemate, in the Nell Gwyn before finishing down the field in the 1000 Guineas, but Roger Varian is hoping for better in this race, which is part of the Qipco British Champions Series.
He said: "We were disappointed with her Guineas run. She's a filly that likes it on the quick side, so I'd like to see it dry. She's capable of running a big race.
"I think the Nell Gwyn form stood up in the English Guineas but, for whatever reason, she did not reproduce that in the Guineas.
"She kind of got knocked sideways, but she probably wasn't going to hit the frame at the time. She could have a good summer, hopefully starting back on Friday."
1700 Sandringham Stakes
There will be plenty cheering on William Haggas' Magnetic Charm in the Sandringham Handicap.
"I've had no luck for Her Majesty the Queen at Royal Ascot yet, but to try to win a race there would be big stuff for us and we try hard to do so," said Haggas.
"She won well at York and they put her up 5lb. I couldn't have her in better condition and that's my view. I liked her last year and she never really got her ground. She doesn't want it too soft, as she loves quick ground. She stays well, so hopefully they will go a good gallop."