Royal Ascot Day One Preview

Royal Ascot gets underway on Tuesday afternoon with a trio of Group 1 races on the agenda at the famous Berkshire layout as one of Britain’s most treasured racing weeks begins. The headline act on Tuesday is the St James’s Palace Stakes over a mile as the best three-year-old milers in the land strut their stuff.

They go at Royal Ascot from 2.30pm-6.10pm and the feature contest goes off at 4.20pm. Our racing expert has picked out three horses to follow on day one of Royal Ascot.

Tip 1: Notable Speech (Queen Anne Stakes, Ascot 2.30) @ 11/2

The opening race of the meeting has a wide-open look to it. Lead Artist won last month’s Lockinge at Newbury in game fashion from Dancing Gemini in second, with Rosallion in third and NOTABLE SPEECH back in fourth.

The quartet all come here with claims of landing this Group 1 contest and it might be that Notable Speech hands owners Godolphin a record-extending ninth win and trainer Charlie Appleby his first. The Dubawi colt was unbeaten when he came here last summer after landing the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket but he got a poor run and suffered traffic woes as Rosallion scored.

He atoned by winning the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, was unsuited on soft ground in the Moulin at Longchamp and then ran a big race in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in the United States. He should be much sharper for his comeback run at Newbury and can go close in that scenario.

Tip 2: Field Of Gold (St James’s Palace Stakes, Ascot 4.20) @ 10/11

A proper treat here as the winner of the English, Irish and French 2000 Guineas line up against each other. Ruling Court landed the Rowley Mile Classic early last month, with many believing that FIELD OF GOLD was the best horse on merit in that contest. He missed a beat when William Buick committed for home on the winner and rattled home best, only to be denied by half a length. 

Amid the repercussions, Colin Keane was subbed in for the Curragh as John & Thady Gosden’s Kingman colt easily won the Irish Classic. Keane has since been appointed as Juddmonte’s retained rider and will have the reins again on Tuesday. Field Of Gold looks every inch a top miler and is fancied to turn things around from Newmarket with Ruling Court en route to winning the St James’s Palace Stakes on a big afternoon for his rider.

Tip 3: Enfjaar (Wolferton Stakes, Ascot 5.35) @ 15/4

Roger Varian typically has a strong contender in the Wolferton Stakes and he could land this prize for the third time in six years with ENFJAAR. He’s still lightly-raced for a five-year-old, with just 11 runs, but has won four times, including the John Smith’s Cup at York last summer over 1m2½f (good to soft) off a mark of 99. He continued in good form after, going close at Glorious Goodwood from 6lb higher and ran well in Group 3/Listed company at York and Ayr before his season ended.

He shaped strongly in a decent renewal of the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in last month’s comeback and that should have blown away some cobwebs. This race sets up well for him dropping in class and Jim Crowley could be set for back-to-back wins in the Shadwell silks after guiding Israr to victory 12 months ago.