Which American-based horses are running at Royal Ascot?
Royal Ascot will host its annual meet from June 19-23, and a number of American-based runners are set to make the trip, while the races will include some European names we know as well.
NBC Sports will provide unprecedented American coverage of the races in Berkshire, England, with 23 hours broadcast over the five days. It begins at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on NBC Sports Network and includes Saturday, June 23, programming on the main NBC network, a first in the United States.
Here’s an overview of familiar names that stand out in the fields.
On Tuesday in the Queen Anne Stakes (G1), Yoshida will contest the straightaway one-mile distance. While always a promising 3-year-old, the Bill Mott-trained colt turned in an excellent start to his 2018 campaign when winning the Old Forester Turf Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs over multiple Grade 1 winner Beach Patrol.
One of his opponents will be Lancaster Bomber, who has shipped to North American for runner-up efforts in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Woodbine Mile (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Mile.
The favorite in the Queen Anne is Rhododendron. According to the Dubai Racing Channel, trainer Aidan O’Brien is also slated to run 2016 Belmont Derby (G1) winner Deauville.
To follow Tuesday is the Coventry Stakes (G2) at six furlongs for 2-year-olds. This race is notable because of trainer Wesley Ward’s possible entrant Moonlight Romance, who made an impressive turf debut at Belmont Park.
Connections, however, are looking at multiple races, so Moonlight Romance may ultimately race somewhere else next week.
Ward currently owns nine wins at Royal Ascot dating back to 2009. He plans to start 10 horses there during the meet.
Later in the card is the King’s Stand Stakes (G1) at five furlongs, featuring the Ward-trained Lady Aurelia. The 4-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy ran second in her 2018 debut at Keeneland, but will enter the King’s Stand as the defending winner in her second start off the layoff.
At the moment, Lady Aurelia is second choice in wagering, while most of the wagering hype belongs to Battaash. Both runners will face the Indiana-bred 6-year-old horse Bucchero, who will start for trainer Tim Glyshaw.
Also notable on the card is the presence of U S Navy Flag, who finished 10th in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. The O’Brien-trained colt is slated to start in the St. James’s Palace Stakes (G1), one race after the King’s Stand.
On Wednesday is the Queen Mary Stakes (G2), another five furlong affair, and Ward will send out the promising 2-year-old filly Chelsea Cloisters, who broke her maiden by eight lengths at Keeneland in a 4 1/2-furlong furlong dirt sprint.
Chelsea Cloisters is a daughter of First Samurai, out of a Pulpit mare.
According to Thorougbred Daily News, Ward will also start Master Marion in the Royal Hunt Cup and Hemp Hemp Hurray in the Jersey Girl Stakes (G3) on the same day.
The featured Wednesday race is the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1), and those who follow the Triple Crown series might recognize Hawkbill, who earlier this year won the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1). The son of Kitten’s Joy is a half-brother to Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes also-ran Free Drop Billy.
Hawkbill is owned by Godolphin and trained by Charles Appleby. He will face a stiff challenge in the favorite Cracksman, one of the top-rated horses in the world.
Gidu, a Zayat Stables-owned and Todd Pletcher-trained 3-year-old colt, will contend in the Friday, June 22, Commonwealth Cup going six furlongs. The son of Frankel -- yep, heck of a pedigree -- successfully auditioned stateside for his overseas trip in winning Belmont Park's Paradise Creek on May 26.
More from Ward
Ward also is represented on Royal Ascot’s Thursday card, as he sends out Shang Shang Shang against colts in the five-furlong Norfolk Stakes (G2). As with other Ward-trained Ascot 2-year-olds, this filly broke her maiden at Keeneland.
On Friday, Ward will start another 2-year-old filly named Stillwater Cove in the Albany Stakes at six furlongs. She broke her maiden by a nose at Keeneland.
Ward closes out the week with a couple more Royal Ascot starters on Saturday, June 23, as he runs Our Passion in the ungraded Windsor Stakes. This 2-year-old filly only won by a length on turf in a five-furlong Belmont sprint last month.
One race later in the prestigious Diamond Jubilee Stakes (G1), Ward will send out Bound for Nowhere, who is a longshot in this six-furlong sprint. Stormy Liberal, who won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint last year, was considered by rain instead in last weekend’s Jaipur at Belmont Park.
Ward also tries Undrafted in the six-furlong Wokingham Stakes one race later. He is eight-years-old now and comes off a third-place finish at Belmont.