More than 50% of the races at Royal Ascot this season are group contests, which mean they are among the very best races in the world, attracting some of the very best horses from Europe, Asia, and Africa.
No less than 18 of the 35 races are group races, while an incredible 8 of those are Group 1 contests – races which exist to distinguish the very best racehorses of a generation over a variety of distances.
At Unibet you can bet on every one of these races, and we have taken a closer look at the trends for each Royal Ascot Group 1 race this season as well as pinpoint likely winners.
Queen Anne Stakes – 1 mile for older horses
This Group 1 usually heralds the start of Royal Ascot, with the crowds on Tuesday patiently holding their collective breath in anticipation of a fantastic festival of racing. This race is often won by a truly exceptional racehorse; last year’s winner Baaed and the incredible Frankel being just two such stars to have claimed victory.
In fact, sixteen of the last twenty winners had already tasted Group 1 victory in their career, while no less than twenty-three 4-year-olds have won this race in the last 30 years.
This race is a favourite for Team Godolphin, who usually target it as the race for their best older milers and have won it a staggering eight times.
Legendary Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has seen some of his top older horses lose here despite being among the favourites to win, while many of his less well-known horses have been successful. The likes of Hawk Wing, George Washington, and Rip Van Winkle were all defeated while Circus Maximus, Ad Valorem, Declaration of War were all successful.
The Lockinge stakes is always a good trial for this race with twenty-four winners of the Queen Anne since 1980 having participated in that contest before winning at Royal Ascot; in fact, the last two winners of the Queen Anne won the Lockinge… food for thought!
This season Team Godolphin’s Modern Games aims to continue that trend having won the Newbury race ahead of Unibet ambassador Richard Hannon’s Chindit.
The John Gosden trained Inspiral, ridden by Frankie Dettori, makes her seasonal debut in the race. The stats don’t stack up for those horses making their seasonal debuts in this race, but supporters of Inspiral will draw plenty of confidence from the fact she won at last year’s Royal Ascot (Group 1 Coronation Stakes) having had 252 days off the track prior to running that day.
Finally, a very strong trend worth noting is that this race is rarely won by an unfancied horse. Since 1995 just 3 winners were not in the first four in the betting.
King’s Stand Stakes
Race 3 on day 1 is one for the speedsters. Run over 5 furlongs it usually goes a long way to determining who is ultimately crowned Sprinter of the Year.
The race has become an international affair with horses from USA, Australia, Hong Kong, and many other counties flying in to test their speed against the very best.
Despite the international onslaught, British trained horses have won 5 of the last 8 runnings.
But Aussie sprinters are always worth at least a second look as they have won his race with some real superstars in years gone by.
Australia trained horses who have won their Lightening Stakes tend to do well in this race. 4 of the 5 Australian trained winners of the King’s Stand had previously won that event too, while the other – Native Strip – was only beaten a short head! This time around Coolangatta won the race and aims to follow up here.
Sandown’s Temple Stakes is the best English trial for the King’s Stand with 6 winners having won that race previously in the same season.
13 of the last 23 King’s Stand winners all won the last race coming into this contest, and 25 of the last 34 had all previously won a Group 1 race in their career.
Highfield Princess has been well backed since returning to the racecourse at York last month and the former Group1 Nunthorpe winner has a record of 211 in races run over 5f.
St James Palace Stakes
Race 4 on day 1 is for the classic generation of colts. The three-year-olds that win this race tend to have run (and many won) either the Irish or English 2000 Guineas – no less than 14 of the last 24 have done this – while 15 of the last 28 winners of the race won both the English and Irish 2000 Guineas.
The race is usually won by one of the favourites rather than a longshot; just one horse (Circus Maximus) has won it at a double figure odds since Brief Truce did so in 1992.
Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has won 8 of the last 23 runnings of this race and his Irish 2000 Guineas winner Paddington is a leading contender this time around. 6 of Aidan’s 8 winners had previously won the Irish 2000 Guineas.
English 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean – to be ridden by Frankie Dettori who will be riding at his final Royal Ascot meeting before retiring – will be among the favourites.
Trainer John Gosden has an interesting recent record in the race which bucks the trend of horses having run (and many winning) a classic prior to taking the St James Palace stakes.
Both Palace Pier and Without Parole won the race having not contested a classic, while another horse – King of Comedy almost added a third win – finishing a very close up 2nd. This year Gosden will be hoping recent York scorer Mostabshir can become the third horse from the stable to by-pass a Guineas and win this esteemed contest.
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