Royal Ascot Roundup

The hats are back in their boxes and the suits back on their hangers. Let’s take a look back on the highlights of another memorable week at Royal Ascot.

Charyn started the week off by finally broking his Group One duck, winning the Queen Anne by a dominant two-and-a-quarter lengths.

We saw young jockey Billy Loughnane guide Rashabar to his first Royal Ascot win in the first two-year-old race of the week, the Coventry. Rashabar came in at odds of 80/1, with the second and third at 40/1 and 50/1 respectively.

Australia got a win on the board with Asfoora beating Regional and Big Evs in the King Charles III Stakes before Rosallion got one over Notable Speech in one of the performances of the week in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

On Wednesday, Aidan O’Brien got his first winner on the board as Illinois stakes his claim for September’s St Leger in the Queen’s Vase before Auguste Rodin tallied his first win since the Breeders’ Cup by winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Running Lion added another success to Oisin Murphy's tally when she won the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes and Wild Tiger became only the fourth favourite to win the Royal Hunt Cup, holding on by a head.

Thursday saw the return of Kyprios in the Gold Cup, once almost ruled out for a career-ending injury he won emphatically. Trawlerman gave stern opposition over the two-and-a-half miles, but Kyprios always did enough and became the first horse since Kayf Tara in 2000 to regain the Gold Cup.

Port Fairy provided a double on the day for O’Brien and Moore in the Ribblesdale and King’s Gambit was pipped to the post by Jayarebe in the Hampton Court Stakes.

Friday saw a hot renewal of the Coronation Stakes, pitting together the first three from the 1000 Guineas. It ended up son beating father with Donnacha O’Brien’s Porta Fortuna rallied against Aidan O’Brien’s Opera Singer with French raider Ramatuelle back in third.

Inisherin was stepped down in trip after his midfield finish in the 2000 Guineas and followed up his win in the Sandy Lane at Haydock with a success in the Commonwealth Cup.

In the King Edward VII Stakes, Calandagan made it a hat-trick of wins in impressive style, getting the French raiders on the board.

To round things off, Bedtime Story put the Chesham Stakes field to sleep with a nine-and-a-half length victory, and looks the two-year-old to watch this season.

Isle Of Jura beat hot favourite Continuous in the Hardwicke Stakes, Khaadem retained his Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee crown and Haatem finally got his first win of the season in the Jersey Stakes, beating River Tiber.

Uxmal won the longest Flat race of the year, beating last year’s winner Dawn Rising and Run For Oscar for Joseph O’Brien, bringing the curtain down on Royal Ascot 2024.

Next week, the big races keep coming with the Irish Derby at the Curragh and the Northumberland Plate, at Newcastle.