ASCOT, England (AP)—The Royal Ascot meeting may be one of the most traditional
events in the English sports calendar, but trainers and horses from abroad are
expected to make an impact at this year’s event.
Ascot has become an increasingly global event, with racers, trainers and
owners from around the world converging on the racecourse each summer for five
days of racing.
The King’s Stand Stakes has been won by an Australian horse four times this
decade and history was made in 2009 with two American winners.
American-based trainer Carl O’Callaghan’s Kinsale King is a contender to win
Saturday’s Golden Jubilee Stakes.
In Tuesday’s opening day of racing, Canford Cliffs is the favorite in the
St. James’s Palace Stakes. The Irish 2000 Guineas winner will have to beat the
likes of English Guineas winner Makfi and English and French 2000 runner-up Dick
Turpin. U.S.-trained Noble’s Promise also looks promising after finishing fifth
in the Kentucky Derby.
Richard Hughes has a chance of repeating his feat last year of riding three
winners. The jockey rode 25 winners in May and rides three horses trading at 3-1
or less on Tuesday: Paco Boy in the Queen Anne Stakes, Canford Cliffs in the St.
James’s Palace Stakes and Strong Suit in the Coventry Stakes.
In the Queen Anne Stakes, French-trained Goldikova runs in Britain for only
the second time—after winning Newmarket’s Falmouth Stakes in July 2009.
However, the mare is seen as a good bet against established horses such as Paco
Boy and Rip Van Winkle, having won 11 of 16 races in her career.
O’Callaghan is an unconventional figure in racing, emigrating to the United
States from Ireland as a teenager, before building a successful training career
while continuing to pursue his passion for singing and playing the guitar.
His habit of feeding Kinsale King four pints of Guinness each day seems to
work, with the horse winning a Grade Three race at Hollywood Park in December.
However, Saudi owner Khalid Abdulla’s Showcasing is favorite for the Golden
Jubilee Stakes. Last year’s Golden Jubilee win by Art Connoisseur showed how the
one of the world’s most prestigious flat race events can throw up surprises.
Abdulla also has his eye on the prized Gold Cup, with his Manifest enjoying
odds of 5-2 to win Thursday’s race. The Gold Cup has been won every year since
2006 by Yeats, who was retired at the end of last season.
