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Field Of Gold on course for ’round two’ with Ruling Court

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John Gosden is relishing the Royal Ascot rematch between stable star Field Of Gold and his 2000 Guineas conqueror Ruling Court in a mouthwatering St James’s Palace Stakes.

The Clarehaven hotshot suffered defeat at Newmarket to Charlie Appleby’s Justify colt – who was a late withdrawal from the Derby due to rain-softened ground – but gained Classic redemption in sublime style at the Curragh last month.

“Round two with Ruling Court is exciting and is what Royal Ascot is all about. There will be a fabulous line-up of horses in a lot of races,” said Gosden, who watched some of his team for the Royal meeting work on Newmarket’s July course on Wednesday morning.

“There was no need for him to come and have a gallop today as he’s only just run in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, but he’s fine and heading to the St James’s Palace.”

Having followed in the footsteps of his sire Kingman almost symmetrically to this point, Gosden is now hoping he can replicate his father once again by scoring in a blockbuster opening-day clash also contains Aidan O’Brien’s Poule d’Essai des Poulains champion Henri Matisse.

However, to do so the long-striding grey could need the draw gods to shine favourably and Gosden continued: “We will have to see how the race works out and you have to take a good look at the draw haven’t you over the mile at Ascot.

“If you’re drawn on the inside you might never see daylight and we’ll see how that draw goes and take things from there.”

Gosden, who has won the St James’s Palace Stakes three times among his 66 Royal Ascot winners, also gave his backing to Colin Keane, who was on the July course assisting in preparations after securing the prime position of Juddmonte retained jockey ahead of the summer’s showpiece meeting.

The six-time Irish champion stepped in aboard Field Of Gold when the colt scorched to Irish 2,000 Guineas glory and although it was Queen Anne Stakes hope Lead Artist instead of the his Classic hero that he partnered in Wednesday morning work, Gosden hailed the 30-year-old’s class in the saddle.

“He’s a very talented jockey and horseman and an extremely nice fellow,” explained Gosden.

“The travelling will be demanding, but I’m sure he will fit in well once he gets to know all the horses. I think if you travel regularly on Ryanair you might be seeing him. He’ll be over plenty riding work as well as at the races and he’s come over today especially.

“He’s a classy jockey and you’re not six-time Irish champion without being at the top of your game as racing over there is tough and no one gives a quarter to anyone. So to that extent he is very talented and it’s an exciting opportunity for him.”

As well as Ruling Court, Appleby has Guineas third Shadow Of Light and Opera Ballo in contention, while Juddmonte can also call on the Andrew Balding-trained pair of Jonquil and Windlord.

O’Brien also has a total of three contenders, with First Wave and Officer still in the mix alongside Henri Matisse, as Rashabar (Brian Meehan) and Scorthy Champ (Joseph O’Brien) complete the 11-strong list.

Chapple-Hyam planning to supplement Kon Tiki for Coronation Stakes

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Kon Tiki will be put through her paces at Newmarket on Friday, with trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam planning to supplement her charge for the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Night Of Thunder filly is unbeaten in three starts, supplementing two all-weather novice successes with a Listed strike on her first turf spin at York’s Dante meeting.

After bypassing a run in the Prix de Sandringham at Chantilly at the start of the month, Kon Tiki will have a racecourse gallop before connections pay £46,000 to add her to the Coronation field.

Speaking at the July course on Wednesday morning, Chapple-Hyam said: “She’s really good, she’s coming here on Friday morning for a gallop and she’s being supplemented then on the Saturday.

“We looked at the Sandringham in France which was on French Derby day, it just came that fortnight too quick and she came in season, so it was a combination.”

Carl Spackler in great shape with Ascot approaching

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Connections of Carl Spackler rate Ascot itself as the biggest challenge for their new American recruit in Tuesday’s Queen Anne Stakes.

The five-year-old was sold to Yulong Investments last month, shortly after recording his third Grade One victory for trainer Chad Brown in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland.

Now with Australian handler Ciaron Maher, Carl Spackler will make his yard debut in the opening event of the Royal meeting, with William Bourne, Maher’s bloodstock manager, acknowledging the course as a key obstacle for the Lope De Vega horse to overcome.

He said: “I would say his biggest challenge is the conditions and the track. A stiff mile at Ascot is probably the biggest ask coming from America, I think that will be his biggest challenge in handling that.

“It would be amazing (to win). It’s pretty unique to purchase a horse in America, to be trained by an Australian and run at Royal Ascot, but the long-term plan is to bring him out for the Cox Plate, so we’d be thrilled to get this on the way through.”

Carl Spackler was put through his paces on Newmarket’s July course on Wednesday morning, with Jamie Spencer in the saddle, although top Australian jockey James McDonald will be in the plate on Tuesday.

Bourne said: “We came here wanting to have a hit out. That’s his second gallop since he’s been here in Newmarket, he came in with good condition, a very healthy horse from Chad Brown and after the feedback from Jamie Spencer on his first gallop, he needed a good hit out so coming here today, he got that and that’s exactly what we wanted to achieve.

“He’s done it really nicely and Jamie said when he gave him a little squeeze late on, he really exploded and he was pretty impressed by how much he’d switched on from his first to his second gallop. It’s obviously not an easy task for us, but the horse looks fit and well.”

McDonald is no stranger to Royal Ascot success, having ridden three winners at the fixture in 2022, and has enjoyed plenty of big-race wins for Yulong, not least with ex-British runner Via Sistina who he has steered to six Group One wins since her transfer to Australia.

James McDonald was an Ascot winner aboard Nature Strip in 2022
James McDonald was an Ascot winner aboard Nature Strip in 2022 (David Davies/PA)

Bourne said: “James is great, obviously he’s had a lot of luck with the colours on with Via Sistina and he’s had winners at Royal Ascot before. He’s a great fit for the owners, they wanted him and it’s a great to have a world-class jockey on your horse in a Group One.

“He’s Yulong’s main rider in Australia and if ‘J-Mac’ was available, we were very happy to use him.

“James is happy to come over and ride the horse, I was chatting to him last week, he’s watched his tapes and is getting very excited about the horse. He didn’t know who he was and I got a very bland response, but after watching the tapes and having a look at the horse, he’s very excited and upbeat.”

Winner of eight of his 12 starts in America, although Carl Spackler has the Cox Plate, Australia’s premier weight-for-age race, firmly on his agenda in the autumn, should he run well at Ascot, he might yet have a second British start.

Bourne added: “We’ll play it by ear, we’re going to look at Goodwood as an option but his ultimate goal will be the Cox Plate, so we will see how he runs on Tuesday and go from there. He’s obviously a quality horse and there will be plenty of options for him.”

Racing Bulletin for 11/06/2025

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Today's Racing

Click on course names to view our course guides. Click on race times to access that racecard. Times highlighted in yellow are free races of the day.

Lingfield Park

Good to Soft

 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00
Yarmouth

Good

 14:45 15:15 15:45 16:15 16:45 17:15 17:45
Limerick

Good

 16:50 17:20 17:50 18:20 18:50 19:20 19:50 20:20
Kempton Park

Standard / Slow

 17:40 18:10 18:40 19:10 19:40 20:10 20:40
Hamilton Park

Good

 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00

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Trainer Statistics report

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Beckett can see merit in coming back in trip with Stanhope Gardens

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Ralph Beckett is tempted to drop Stanhope Gardens back down in trip after finishing a creditable fifth in the Betfred Derby.

The Kimpton Down trainer feels the lightly-raced Ghaiyyath colt just ran out of stamina close home, having made up plenty of ground after the descent from Tattenham Corner.

Beckett said: “Dropping him in trip would be the obvious thing, but what muddies the water is that he had such a bad prep.

“I don’t want to make excuses, he ran his race, but he was off the last week of April, the first week of May and then we had another problem the week before the Derby as well so he only just made it.

“From that draw (15), sectionals say he ran a fast three-to-two and two-to-one so all of that is really encouraging.

“The obvious thing is to run him over 10 furlongs because if he doesn’t get home over 12 next time then I’m in a hole. Although he’s by Ghaiyyath the mare (Pure Art), whatever they breed her to they never get more than 10 furlongs, so I think that is where we’ll end up – but it is to be debated.

“There’s the Eugene-Adam at Saint-Cloud against three-year-olds, but we’ll see where we are in a couple of weeks.”

Beckett also fielded Dante winner Pride Of Arras, who went off second-favourite but only beat one home.

“He was very disappointing. He was a little bit keen up the hill and came down the hill like an ostrich on ice,” Beckett told Racing TV.

“He’s come out of it well and we’ll go again. I’d be keen to go to the Irish Derby, as I think that will suit him.”

Last year’s Irish Oaks winner You Got To Me, bought by Amo Racing for 4,800,000 guineas, was another disappointment in the Coronation Cup and her future appears to be on temporary hold.

“I’m not sure about her, the way she’s come out of the race, which is well, I’m not sure about anything with her at the moment, I’ll have to do a bit more digging,” said Beckett.

Zahrann under consideration for King Edward VII challenge

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The King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot next week remains under consideration for Zahrann following his impressive recent victory at Leopardstown.

Narrowly beaten on his Navan debut before bolting up at Cork, the Johnny Murtagh-trained three-year-old faced a significant step up in class for the Listed King George V Cup but overcame signs of inexperience to come from last to first and win going away in the colours of the late Aga Khan.

Murtagh raised the option of a trip to Ascot in the immediate aftermath and Pat Downes, general manager at the Aga Khan’s Irish studs, said on Tuesday: “He will certainly have an entry in the King Edward and beyond that we’re just going to see how he is over the next few days.

“He was obviously still a little bit raw when winning at Leopardstown and we’ll just have to think what is in the best interests of the horse for his next race, but certainly the King Edward is a possibility as we speak now.

“We were delighted with him in Leopardstown, the race was run at a pretty sedate pace so he was a bit further back than ideal and came wide into the straight as well, so I thought he did well to pick them up and win well at the line.”

The possibility of Zahrann being supplemented for the Irish Derby was also mooted, but given the Curragh Classic comes just nine days after his potential Royal Ascot engagement he appears highly unlikely to do both.

“It would be one or the other and I would say, given how he ran at Leopardstown it might be better to take a smaller step with him than a bigger step just at this point in his career,” Downes added.

“He’s got some nice entries for the second half of the year and he’s certainly a horse we would see being effective over 10 or 12 furlongs, so hopefully there’s some good days ahead with him.”

Zahrann could be part of a small but select team of horses to carry the famous green and red silks at the Royal meeting, with his stablemate Reyenzi also pencilled in alongside some major challengers from France.

Reyenzi (third right) in action at the Curragh
Reyenzi (third right) in action at the Curragh (Brian Lawless/PA)

Reyenzi was first past the post in the Group Three Gallinule Stakes last month before being demoted to third by the stewards after causing interference.

Downes said: “The plan for Reyenzi at the moment is that he’ll run in the Hampton Court. He ran around a bit the last day for sure, but it was only his third lifetime start and hopefully he’ll have learned from that and he’s been in good form since.

“Then the two main ones from France would be Zarigana in the Coronation Stakes and Candelari in the Gold Cup and we’ll probably have a couple of others as well.”

Johnson Houghton targets Ascot with Woodcote second

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Royal Ascot beckons for Eve Johnson Houghton’s eyecatching Woodcote runner-up Havana Hurricane.

The Havana Gold colt won on his debut at Goodwood in May and despite missing the break at Epsom, ran on to be beaten just a length and a half by Godolphin’s £720,000 breeze-up buy Maximized.

Royal Ascot now beckons, with the Windsor Castle and Norfolk Stakes possible targets for the shrewdly-bought 9,000 guineas purchase.

“He’s great, he’s been very well and is such a laid-back horse,” said Johnson Houghton.

“Horses don’t know how much they cost, they haven’t got a clue. Once we get them in the yard we don’t really care what they cost either, we treat them all the same.

“He could go for the Windsor Castle or the Norfolk, he’ll be entered in both.

“He’s got bags of pace, clearly, even when he does give the rest of them a head start! A stiff five at Ascot has got to really suit him.”

Havana Hurricane holds an entry for the Weatherbys Super Sprint Stakes at Newbury in mid-July, for which he would carry a relative feather weight as allocations are based on purchase price.

Johnson Houghton added: “He’s in the Super Sprint, we’ll see how Ascot goes of course, but it’s very tasty prize-money for us to look at and I think he’s pretty useful.”

Donnacha O’Brien hoping Porta Fortuna will be back for the autumn

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Donnacha’s O’Brien’s star filly Porta Fortuna will return later in the year after being forced to miss Royal Ascot with a minor setback

The Caravaggio four-year-old has twice run at the showpiece fixture and twice been victorious, winning the Albany in 2023 and the Coronation Stakes in 2024.

She is a multiple Group winner alongside those successes, but will not add to her Ascot tally this term as an injury has sidelined her for the time being.

“She’s had a bit of a setback, she’s not going to make Ascot but hopefully it’s nothing too serious,” said O’Brien.

“We’re hoping to have her back for the second half of the season. It’s bad timing, but we’ll give her all the time she needs and aim to have her back at her best towards the autumn.

“We won’t take any chances with her, we’ll do what’s right by her – as we would with any horse, of course.

“She’s been very special to us, she’ll get all the care and attention she needs.”

Another filly from the yard who will come to hand later in the year is Falling Snow, a daughter of Justify and dual Guineas winner Winter.

The grey made her debut at the Curragh last season, beating the subsequently Group One-placed Ballet Slippers, but has not been seen since after a niggle delayed her return to action.

“She’s on the way back, she had a bad muscle pull earlier in the season but she’s done a few canters now,” O’Brien said.

“She’ll be back in work soon and again, she’ll be one for the second half of the season.

“She’s coming along well and she should be a nice filly for later in the year and into next season.”

Jockey plans still to be made for Dancing Gemini

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Roger Teal has yet to decide who will ride Dancing Gemini in the Royal Ascot curtain-raiser, the Queen Anne Stakes, next week.

Just touched off in the Lockinge by Lead Artist, the four-year-old will lock horns once again with John and Thady Gosden’s colt, as well as the likes of Rosallion and Notable Speech.

It will be a real case of jockey merry-go-round, however, as Colin Keane will be replacing Oisin Murphy on Lead Artist due to his new retained role with Juddmonte, while Ryan Moore, who rode Dancing Gemini at Newbury, could be required by Aidan O’Brien for Diego Velazquez.

The leaves the door open for either Rossa Ryan or Kieran Shoemark, who have both ridden Dancing Gemini to victory this season.

“There are three boys who have ridden him this season and we don’t know which way the cards are going to fall yet,” said Teal on Sky Sports Racing.

“One of them will be on board but I can’t say which one yet, we’ll just have to see what Mr O’Brien does with Ryan and Ralph Beckett with Rossa. Kieran is free so it will be one of the three.

“Rosallion and Notable Speech have a couple of lengths to make up on us and if the ground is on the easier side, I know the forecast is unpredictable at the moment, but if there’s soft in it then it will be more in our favour than theirs.

“I was tremendously proud of him, but I won’t lie I was gutted at Newbury. Second in a Lockinge is great, but to win would have been much better, hopefully we can win the Queen Anne and that will make up for it.

“Having a horse like Gemini in the yard is great for morale, they all play their part in getting this horse to where we are today.”

Bookmakers shorten Los Angeles with Economics to miss Ascot

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Los Angeles has been cut in the ante-post market on the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, with Economics ruled out.

The William Haggas-trained Economics had been seen as one of the main dangers to Aidan O’Brien’s star, following a three-year-old campaign that saw him win the Dante Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes.

He was due to make his reappearance on day two of the Royal fixture, but Haggas told the Racing Post he would not be running and was “out in the short term, but it’s no big deal and hopefully he can be back in action soon”.

In his absence Los Angeles is the 3-1 favourite from 7-2 with William Hill, with Owen Burrows’ Champion Stakes winner Anmaat next best at 4-1.

William Hill spokesman Lee Phelps said: “News that William Haggas’ Economics has been ruled out of Royal Ascot has shaken up the Prince of Wales’s Stakes market.

“With one of his key competitors out, we have clipped Los Angeles from 7-2 to 3-1 at the head of the market.

“One horse we’re now fearing could be a popular pick is Anmaat after a strong reappearance behind Los Angeles at the Curragh and the Champion Stakes winner could be the punters’ pick at 4-1.

“Economics had been third in the betting, but that place now belongs to Wathnan Racing’s French raider Map Of Stars (5-1).”

Paddy Power make Los Angeles a 5-2 chance, with Map Of Stars 4-1 and Anmaat 9-2.

Connections opt to miss French Oaks with Falakeyah

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Falakeyah will not be running in the Prix de Diane on Sunday, with the race coming too soon for Owen Burrows’ filly following a dirty scope 10 days ago.

Despite working well on Tuesday morning, Burrows felt the French Classic at Chantilly was just coming at the wrong time for his unbeaten three-year-old, who needs a little longer to recuperate.

Having bypassed the Oaks at Epsom to wait for France, her third Group One option of three after she won on her comeback at Newmarket was the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. However, should connections decide on coming back to a mile next week, she would need to be supplemented.

Angus Gold, racing manager for the filly’s owners, Shadwell, said: “She scoped dirty 10 days ago.

“We treated her and worked her this morning, she worked beautifully, we were all very happy, but Owen just said she had a decent blow having missed a crucial bit of work.

“It is hard enough to win a Classic when you are 110 per cent so we’re not going to risk running her.

“We haven’t got as far as discussing the next plan yet, but she won’t be going to France, it’s just bad timing.”

Tennessee Stud and Lambourn could have second Classic clash

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Betfred Derby third Tennessee Stud looks set for a rematch with his Epsom conqueror Lambourn in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh.

A Group One-winning two-year-old in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud, Joseph O’Brien’s charge was third behind Delacroix on his return to action in the Leopardstown Derby Trial last month ahead of his bid for Classic glory on the Surrey Downs.

Tennessee Stud was one of the few horses to get involved from off the pace as the front-running Lambourn provided Joseph’s father Aidan with an 11th Derby victory and O’Brien junior – who also saddled Wemightakedlongway to finish fourth in Friday’s Oaks – is happy to take on the winner again on home soil.

He said: “I was delighted with both runners over the weekend, particularly the horse in the Derby. He came home strongly and looks an exciting horse for the future.

“We felt that he’d improve for the run at Leopardstown, we had been working towards the Derby and he ran a fantastic race.

“I would imagine he’ll go back to the Irish Derby. You’d think a mile and a half at the Curragh would suit him well and he has had a good run there before (second in Beresford Stakes).”

O’Brien was similarly pleased with the performance of Wemightakedlongway, who looks set to to stick to Group One level after being beaten just over five lengths by Minnie Hauk in the Oaks.

Wemightakedlongway at Epsom
Wemightakedlongway at Epsom (Adam Morgan/PA)

“She ran great and we could have a look at the Pretty Polly maybe, or the Irish Oaks, or both,” the trainer added.

“She seems well after the race. We’d be happy to try the trip again anyway, that’s for sure.

“Hopefully one or both horses can get on the scoreboard at Group One level.”

Racing Bulletin for 10/06/2025

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Today's Racing

Click on course names to view our course guides. Click on race times to access that racecard. Times highlighted in yellow are free races of the day.

Salisbury

Good to Firm

 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:05
Wolverhampton

Standard

 14:45 15:15 15:45 16:15 16:45 17:15 17:50
Catterick

Good

 17:10 17:40 18:10 18:40 19:10 19:40 20:10 20:40
Sligo

Good

 17:28 17:58 18:28 18:58 19:28 19:58 20:28
Fontwell Park

Good

 18:20 18:50 19:20 19:50 20:20 20:50

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Botti keen on Princess of Wales’s repeat for Giavellotto

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Marco Botti is likely to lower Giavellotto’s sights with the defence of his Princess of Wales’s Stakes title now seemingly favourite for his next run.

The Hong Kong Vase winner finished a fair third in the Coronation Cup, with three individual Group One winners behind him.

Given he was beaten over seven lengths by Jan Brueghel and Calandagan, Botti feels Giavellotto might benefit from dropping back to Group Two level at Newmarket rather than tackling the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

“He ran his race. The ground on Friday was just on the easy side of good and Oisin (Murphy) said after the race that while it wasn’t soft ground, it wasn’t quick enough for him,” said Botti.

“He’s at his best on fast ground but that said, he might have only finished a couple of lengths closer, it didn’t make the difference between winning and losing.

“It was still a good run with Group One winners behind him and he gives his best all the time.

“I think we stay at a mile and a half but I said to the owner after the race that we had to be realistic. We were thinking about the King George but that might be a little ambitious and maybe we should go back to Newmarket for the race he won last year, the Princess of Wales’s.”

Green Impact gunning for Irish Derby following Glencairn glory

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All roads lead to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for Green Impact following his victory at Leopardstown last week.

Jessica Harrington’s son of sire-of-the-moment Wootton Bassett returned to winning ways in the Glencairn Stakes having finished sixth in the 2000 Guineas.

He made all the running that day but with Epsom hero Lambourn more than likely to adopt those tactics at the Curragh, Green Impact’s connections are more than happy to take a lead.

“After Thursday we were just hoping there would be some pace in the Irish Derby but now it looks like he is going to have a lead,” said Jamie McCalmont, racing manager to owner Marc Chan.

“Green Impact will improve for that race. Had he been 100 per cent then he would have been in the French Derby four days before.

“He just hadn’t had the ideal preparation since Newmarket to go and run in France, I’d say he was around 85 per cent ready.

“It looks a good Guineas this year and Green Impact lost a shoe and didn’t handle the dip.

“We’d liked to have gone to France but it was smart not to go as he’d had a problem with a muscle.

“He was only getting 5lb instead of 10lb off the older horses so that was a fair effort I thought.”

Chan also part-owns the Ralph Beckett-trained Stanhope Gardens, who finished fifth at Epsom, but no decision has been taken as yet on his next target.

“I think it was a good run. It’s too soon to say where he might go next,” said McCalmont.

“We’ll discuss it in a week or so. Wherever he does go next he can only improve given his preparation.”

Chan’s stalwart Kinross proved the fire still burns bright when narrowly beaten on his return to action at Haydock.

“We knew he’d come to hand a lot earlier this year,” said McCalmont.

“At the end of last year we were wondering if was still what he was but if you give him time between his races he definitely is. When he’s fresh he’s a very good horse.

“The three-year-olds this year look very good so I’d say the July Cup this year might be a long shot so the races at Goodwood (Lennox) and York (City of York) are more than likely where he’ll turn up, ground permitting.”

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