So that’s good night after the first day and it’s already doubtful if we’ll see a better winner than Field of Gold this week, who put in a terrific display to win the St James’s Palace Stakes.That was the undoubted highlight of the day but a royal winner would have put the seal on it.When the King and Queen’s horse Reaching High was sent to Willie Mullins it was clear he was going to be aimed at the staying race on the first day of this meeting.When the UK’s outstanding jockey Ryan Moore was booked it was a further sign of the stable confidence.Unfortunately they reckoned without the draw in stall No 1 and the rider getting stuck on the inside and finishing full of running – but unplaced! Better luck next time – and to you and see you here for day two tomorrow.

1 French Master (James Doyle) 5-2 Fav 2 Caballo De Mar (Callum Shepherd) 13-2 3 Samui (C T Keane) 20-1 4 Barnso (Oisin Murphy) 14-1 16 ran6.10pm COPPER HORSE STAKES HANDICAPAnd they’re off … Charlus is up with the leaders but running very free … Barnso is in second place … and now the favourite French Master is about halfway down the field at the halfway stage … Champagne Prince is just behind the front pair … into the home straight … Barnso tries to hold on … and now French Master comes with a big run to win and win well.🇫🇷 French Master wins the Copper Horse Stakes 🏆🏆 A double for James Doyle and the Wathnan team#RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/TsA3IX3XfD6.

10pm COPPER HORSE STAKES HANDICAP bettingFrench Master 11/4Charlus 5/1Aeronautic 7/1Caballo De Mar 15/2My Mate Mozzie 12/1Endless Victory 14/1Barnso 14/1Champagne Prince 16/1Jesse Evans 20/1Samui 20/122/1 BAR - 16 RunnersFull betting here: /horse-racing/royal-ascot/18:10/winnerMost Backed: 43% of total stakes today on French Master6.10pm COPPER HORSE STAKES HANDICAP previewThere’s no doubt about the likely favourite for this 14-furlong handicap, as John & Thady Gosden’s French Master has been a warm order since being pointed towards this race after a luckless but ultimately successful run at Goodwood last time out.He was snatched up before the turn for home, ran into further trouble in the straight and was switched with less than a quarter-of-a-mile to run before getting up to win by a neck.He went up by just 4lb as a result and wears blinkers for the first time today.He is also top on Timeform’s ratings, but faces an interesting and unexposed rival in Willie Mullins’s Charlus, whose trainer has won the last two runnings of this race.

He has had just two starts for the stable after a short but promising Flat career for Jean-Claude Rouget in France, and while he showed very little when finishing a well-beaten 12th in the Triumph Hurdle in March, if Mullins is running him here, he has clearly shown some encouragement at home.Ryan Moore has been booked to ride and he could well be the one to give the favourite most to do.SELECTION: CHARLUS1 Haatem (James Doyle) 8-1 2 Galen (D McMonagle) 13-2 3 King’s Gambit (James McDonald) 4-1 Fav 16 ran5.35pm WOLFERTON STAKES And they’re off … Phantom Flight is away well but it’s Sons And Lovers who gets the lead … Ecureuil Secret is challenging him now … and they turn for home … Galen challenges … but Haatem grabs the lead close home to win from Galen and the fast-finishing King’s Gambit.HAATEM WINS THE WOLFERTON STAKES! #RoyalAscot pic.

twitter.com/Zk2JQbiE6z5.35pm WOLFERTON STAKES bettingKings Gambit 9/2Sons And Lovers 13/2Enfjaar 15/2Haatem 17/2Galen 10/1Meydaan 10/1Ecureuil Secret 11/1Torito 14/1Military Order 18/1Haunted Dream 22/125/1 BAR - 16 RunnersFull betting: /horse-racing/royal-ascot/17:35/winnerMost Backed: Kings Gambit (18%) and Sons and Lovers (16%) account for over 1/3 of all bets5.35pm WOLFERTON STAKES previewWe’re getting into the tail end of the card here but there are precious few races at the Royal meeting that can be left to one side and this is an intriguing contest between horses with solid form at a much higher level and others that are progressing up the ladder.King’s Gambit, with top Australian rider James McDonald booked to ride, ran seventh in the Group One Champion Stakes at this track last October, when he was sent off at 14-1, and was also second, beaten less than a length, in the Hampton Court Stakes over course and distance at last year’s Royal meeting.

He has long promises to be a legitimate Group-race performer but the slight concern has to be that he has not added to his win in the London Gold Cup Handicap at Newbury in May 2024 in six attempts.A few lucky punters have backed Joseph O’Brien’s Sons And Lovers at long odds and he was less than three lengths behind the Group One-winning Los Angeles at the Curragh in early May, while Enfjaar will surely build on his seven-length fifth in the Group Three Brigadier Gerard Stakes in May, his first start since September.I’ll delve a little further down the odds in this race though and take a chance on Richard Fahey’s Ecureuil Secret, the easy winner of a handicap at Epsom’s Derby meeting earlier this month.He bolted up by four lengths in a time that strongly suggested he is much improved this season having been gelded over the winter.Fast ground, admittedly, is a slight concern but he does not have the action of a soft-ground specialist and is also in the early stages of his career with Fahey with further improvement a distinct possibility.

SELECTION: ECUREUIL SECRET1 Ascending (W J Lee) 20-1 2 Nurburgring (C T Keane) 16-1 3 Comfort Zone (Tom Marquand) 33-1 4 Leinster (D McMonagle) 25-1 20 ran Also: 11-4 Fav Reaching High5pm ASCOT STAKES HANDICAPAnd they’re off … this is a long old two and a half mile race … Artistic Star is fast away … Reaching High is behind the leaders on the inside … Liari leads now with a circuit to go … East India Dock is just behind with Nurburgring up there too … Poniros is right towards the back … into the straight … Ascending takes the lead … and just holds Nurburgring … Ryan Moore who rode the favourite, the royal runner Reaching High, will be in the Tower after that – a race in which he did not get a run at all after getting stuck on the inside and not able to get out.A horrow show for His Majesty!Ascending wins the @Ascot Stakes! #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/0Lm21TGPYK5pm ASCOT STAKES HANDICAP bettingPoniros 11/4Reaching High 10/3East India Dock 9/2Manxman 11/1Alphonse Le Grande 14/1Mr Hampstead 14/1Nurburgring 16/1Ascending 20/1Leinster 22/1Divine Comedy 25/1BAR 28/1 - 20 RunnersFull betting here: /horse-racing/royal-ascot/17:00/winnerMost Backed: Reaching High with 13% of bets5pm ASCOT STAKES HANDICAP previewThe first handicap at this year’s Royal meeting and it’s a cracker, with all eyes on Willie Mullins’s Reaching High in his attempt to give the King and Queen their second Royal winner.The four-year-old was bred by the late Queen Elizabeth II from her Gold Cup-winning mare, Estimate, and made a historic switch to the County Carlow yard after Sir Michael Stoute’s retirement at the end of last season, becoming the first horse owned by a reigning British monarch to be trained in Ireland.

He is stepping up a mile in trip today, though, and while he was widely expected to set off as the favourite, an interesting betting move has seen him supplanted by his stable companion, Poniros, the mount of William Buick and the 100-1 winner of the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham back in March.East India Dock, who is also in today’s field, was the warm favourite for the Triumph and finished less than a length behind the winner, but is carrying 6lb more than Poniros today thanks to a subsequent win in the highly-competitive Chester Cup.The market’s logic seems to be that if East India Dock is still well-handicapped after an 8lb rise for his win on the Roodee, then Poniros is potentially *very* well handicapped back on the Flat, having backed up his Cheltenham run with a strong second in a Grade One hurdle at Punchestown in April.Other runners to consider include Divine Comedy, the runner-up in this race last year off a 2lb lower mark, while Alphonse Le Grande and Manxman were separated by just a nose when first and second respectively in the Cesarewitch Handicap over two-and-a-quarter miles last October.SELECTION: PONIROS1 Field Of Gold (C T Keane) 8-11 Fav 2 Henri Matisse (R L Moore) 4-1 3 Ruling Court (W Buick) 4-14.

20pm ST JAMES’S PALACE STAKESAnd they’re off … Windlord takes the lead early … Officer is on the outside and Henri Matisse is at the back … into the straight … Field of Gold is going very well and kicks clear to win with a lot to spare … a brilliant display.That was the performance of the season so far.Something a bit special that!!SUPERSTAR! FIELD OF GOLD ROUTS THEM IN THE ST JAMES’S PALACE STAKES! #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/ENbnZHKAZk4.

20pm ST JAMES’S PALACE STAKES bettingField Of Gold 5/6Ruling Court 3/1Henri Matisse 7/2Officer 28/1Rashabar 33/1Windlord 100/1First Wave 125/1Full betting here: /horse-racing/royal-ascot/16:20/winnerMost Backed: Field of Gold has taken 59% of bets4,20pm ST JAMES’S PALACE STAKES previewA much-anticipated meeting of the three Guineas winners from England, France and Ireland with the three-year-old miling championship on the line, and there is a further score to settle following Field Of Gold’s defeat by Ruling Court in the Newmarket Classic,Field Of Gold went down by a fast-diminishing half-length after Kieren Shoemark delayed his run by a stride or two and it was enough to cost the rider his job as John & Thady Gosden’s No,1 (or, to be precise, the first choice for owners without a retained jockey of their own),Colin Keane then took over for his emphatic success at the Curragh and he has since been appointed as the Juddmonte operation’s first retained rider in Europe for more than 10 years.

The French form, meanwhile, is represented by Henri Matisse, while Aidan O’Brien’s colt was also a Grade One-winning two-year-old in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar.It is between the three of them according to the betting and Henri Matisse, who showed a fine turn of foot to run down the useful Jonquil at Longchamp, looked ideally suited by a right-handed mile on quick ground.He could well be the value bet in today’s field at around 4-1.Form guides: 2,000 Guineas, Newmarket, 3 May 25 (Ruling Court, Field Of Gold).https://youtu.

be/9nwvKAfocgQ?feature=sharedIrish 2,000 Guineas, the Curragh, 24 May 25 (Field Of Gold, Rashabar).https://youtu.be/hVspaolF2hk?feature=sharedPoule D’Essai Des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas), Longchamp 11 May 25 (Henri Matisse).https://youtu.be/K9fnT3ZtFXI?feature=sharedBreeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Del Mar, 1 Nov 24 (Henri Matisse).

https://youtu.be/Cln12CMWVyo?feature=sharedPrix Jean-Luc Lagardere, Longchamp, 6 Oct 24 (Rashabar, Field Of Gold, Henri Matisse).https://youtu.be/9plhDoYTHeY?feature=sharedSELECTION: HENRI MATISSE1 American Affair (P Mulrennan) 11-1 2 Frost At Dawn (M Barzalona) 28-1 3 Regional (Callum Rodriguez) 9-1 20 ran Non Runners: 2,18 Withdrawn: No 16 Mgheera (9-1) not under orders.Rule 4 applies to all bets.

Deduct 10p in the £.3.40pm KING CHARLES III STAKES And they’re off … Mgheera was withdrawn at the start … this will be fast and furious … American Affair is towards the back … Asfoora is up there … and American Affair has come from way out the back to get there close home and hold off Frost At Dawn to win.AMERICAN AFFAIR WINS THE KING CHARLES III STAKES! #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.

com/8puaIhIuw7No 4 Kerdos unshipped his jockey on the way to the start for the 3.40m race and was running loose but has been caught so hopefully there won’t be too much of a delay as the jockey, Christophe Soumillon, is back in the saddle.Frankie Dettori is at the track and has just been interviewed on ITV.The most successful rider in the recent history of the meeting is now plying his trade in America but was in the news recently after being forced to file for bankruptcy having failed to resolve a dispute over unpaid tax with HMRC.He told ITV Racing presenter Oli Bell that he felt he shouldn’t ride this year.

“I didn’t think it was appropriate to do it but who knows [in the future?],” said the Italian jockey."I still have the devil in my ear saying come on one more time!" 😈Great to see @FrankieDettori at Royal Ascot 🏇@olibellracing | @ascot pic.twitter.com/26EuIH0znb3.40pm KING CHARLES III STAKES bettingAsfoora 4/1Believing 4/1Regional 8/1Mgheera 8/1Night Raider 9/1Starlust 14/1American Affair 16/1West Acre 16/1Rumstar 18/1Jasour 22/1BAR 33/1 - 19 RunnersOddschecker betting here: horse-racing/royal-ascot/15:40/winnerMost Backed: Believing with 14% of all bets3.

40pm KING CHARLES III STAKES preview“What are the Aussies sending over?” is becoming the standard starting point for weighing up this five-furlong sprint, following wins for Chris Waller’s Nature Strip and Henry Dwyer’s mare Asfoora in 2022 and 2024 respectively, and the latter is back is for another crack.She went on to finish second in the King George Stakes at Goodwood and then fourth in the Nunthorpe at York, but unlike in 2024, when she arrived here after a prep run at Haydock in late May, she has not raced since finishing seventh – over six furlongs – in a Group One at Morphettville in April.Live opponents include Regional, who was a length behind her in second 12 months ago and George Boughey’s classy and consistent filly Believing, who was not far away in fourth and went on to run well in a string of top sprints over the summer and autumn, culminating in a close third in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Arc day.She was then sold for 3m gns (£3.15m) to a group that includes the “lads” from Coolmore Stud and leading US-based owner, John Stewart, making a huge profit on the 70k gns she cost as a yearling to race for a Highclere Thoroughbred Racing syndicate, and then recouped around £700k of that price tag with a win over six furlongs in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan in early April.

Night Raider, third in the Duke Of York Stakes in May, is right in the mix on the ratings, while Ed Walker’s Mgheera was down the field behind several of today’s rivals in last year’s Prix de l’Abbaye but looked much improved for switch to a new yard when beating several of today’s field in the Temple Stakes at Haydock, and she is another with decent each-way claims in what promises to be a fast, furious and immensely competitive sprint.KEY FORM: King Charles III Stakes, Royal Ascot, 18 Jun 24 (Asfoora, Regional, Believing).https://youtu.be/S__jJg4pitc?feature=sharedAl Quoz Sprint, Meydan, 5 Apr 25 (Believing, Regional).https://youtu.

be/GSoV-NbR2TY?feature=sharedDuke Of York Stakes, York, 14 May 25 (Night Raider, Kerdos).https://youtu.be/mbAGWEG1u00?feature=sharedPrix de l’Abbaye, Longchamp, 6 Oct 24 (Believing, Mgheera, Starlust, Kerdos).https://youtu.be/9ffApnW0cVg?feature=sharedTemple Stakes, Haydock, 24 May 25 (Mgheera, Washington Heights, Starlust, American Affair, Rumstar) https://youtu.

be/YPWGusMgHco?feature=sharedThe biggest win bet at Oddschecker is on Believing at 9/2.SELECTION: ASFOORA1 Gstaad (R L Moore) 7-2 Fav 2 Do Or Do Not (Tom Marquand) 80-1 3 Coppull (David Probert) 66-1 20 ran Non Runner: 193.05pm COVENTRY STAKES And they’re off … this will be fast … and that’s a good start from Kolkata Knight … Rock On Thunder and Coppull are up there … and they are split into two packs … the far side have it for now … Gstaad storms down the centre of the track to win an 11th Coventry Stakes for Aidan O’Brien!SERIOUS HORSE! GSTAAD WINS THE COVENTRY STAKES! #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/evz8Vh6Bns3.

05pm COVENTRY STAKES bettingGstaad 9/2Postmodern 9/2Military Code 6/1Andab 17/2American Gulf 10/1Warsaw 10/1Rock On Thunder 14/1Power Blue 16/1Underwriter 18/1Gavoo 28/140/1 Bar - 19 RunnersFull betting here: horse-racing/royal-ascot/15:05/winnerMarket Mover: Postmodern 13/2 -> 9/2The winning rider of the first race, Mark Zahra, lost his whip (as did William Buick who had a total shocker of a ride on Notable Speech),Reader Terry Nash says:” “Just wondering if that result in the Queen Anne, where the jockey gets his horse up to win such a close finish without his whip, iis not a persuasive argument to begin a programme that eventually sees races run without it? How about at all the big meetings trying one race per day where whips can’t be used as an aid to improve a horse’s chances?”Not for me but one to ponder …3,05pm COVENTRY STAKES previewAs ever, a long list of lightly-raced and, for the most part, unbeaten colts line up for the first significant two-year-old race of the season, and a shortening favourite in Aidan O’Brien’s Gstaad, a 450k purchase at the foal sales and a half-brother to the Group One-winning 2023 juvenile, Vandeek,He took a Navan maiden by three-quarters of a length on debut in mid-May, but it was a better performance than the bare form suggests as he was forced to switch over a furlong out and still chased down his stable-companion – and favourite – True Love, who has been declared for tomorrow’s Queen Mary Stakes here,The main opposition, in the market at least, looks likely to come fromHamad al Jehani’s Postmodern, who made a very taking debut at Yarmouth on 22 May, He jumped, he travelled and he put the race to bed with a fine turn of foot.

Charlie Appleby’s Military Code has also looked like a potential top-notcher in his two races so far, at Newmarket and Ascot, while a lengthy list of runners with no end of potential improvement in them includes American Gulf, who travelled beautifully on the way to an easy debut win at Windsor and could well be the pick of the prices, and Kevin Ryan’s Rock On Thunder, while Gstaad’s stable companion Warsaw, with Derby-winning jockey Wayne Lordan in the saddle, is a decent second-string as O’Brien goes for a record-extending 11th win in this race.SELECTION: AMERICAN GULF.1 Docklands (Mark Zahra) 14-1 2 Rosallion (S M Levey) 5-2 Fav 3 Cairo (S De Sousa) 100-1 Non Runner: 11Queen Anne Stakes 2.30pm And they’re off … Docklands is slow out of the stalls and Quddwah takes it up … Lead Artist is prominent … Dancing Gemini has a good position … Rosallion is delivered late and as they cross the line Docklands is right with him … photo finish!! Docklands and Rosallion have crossed the line together.Docklands is called the winner!WHAT A START TO #ROYALASCOT! PHOTO FINISH IN THE QUEEN ANNE STAKES.

..AND IT GOES TO DOCKLANDS! pic.twitter.com/SeG6nFmM2R2.

30pm QUEEN ANNE STAKES bettingRosallion 11/4Lead Artist 9/2Notable Speech 5/1Dancing Gemini 13/2Carl Spacker 9/1Diego Velazquez 10/1Docklands 12/1Quddwah 16/1Lake Forest 18/1Cairo 100/1Full betting at Oddschecker: horse-racing/royal-ascot/14:30/winnerMarket mover: Carl Spacker 16/1 -> 9/12.30pm QUEEN ANNE STAKES previewFor better or worse – and I personally feel that it can tend to get a little lost – the older Group One milers provide the traditional opener for the Royal meeting on the straight course, and as is often the case, the form of the Group One Lockinge Stakes at Newbury last month is the obvious place to start.Lead Artist beat Dancing Gemini by a neck with Rosallion and Notable Speech, last year’s 2,000 Guineas winners in Ireland and England respectively, following them home, and all four are taking each other on again here.Rosallion and Notable Speech were both making their seasonal debuts at Newbury, while Lead Artist had the benefit of a pipe-opener in April and Dancing Gemini had two races in the book already, so the two Classic winners would be expected to come on for the outing and Rosallion – top-rated by Timeform – is the current favourite at around 9-4 to find the necessary improvement.One potential up-and-comer that might give the Lockinge principals something to think about is Lake Forest, who landed one of the world’s richest races, the $10m Golden Eagle at Randwick in Australia, for William Haggas in November