Goldikova ready to turn tables and prove giant of turf

Freddie Head’s incredible mare won the corresponding race 12 months ago, beating Richard Hannon’s Paco Boy.

This year, Hannon will try to get his revenge with Canford Cliffs, and the team have made no secret they believe they have a much better chance 12 months on.

Canford Cliffs does have an exceptional turn of foot, as he showed when winning the Irish Guineas and Sussex Stakes last year.

He reappeared this season with a victory over Italian challenger Worthadd in the Lockinge at Newbury in what was a solid, if unspectacular performance, and the general consensus is he will be cherry-ripe for this.

It must be mentioned that Canford Cliffs has won at the last two Royal meetings, the Coventry Stakes as a juvenile and the St James’s Palace last term.

But in Goldikova he is meeting a true giant of the turf, who can win in any eventuality.

She puts her races to bed in a matter of strides and is likely to have too much class for the young pretender.

With Frankel looking the proverbial steering job in the St James’s Palace Stakes, Japanese raider Grand Prix Boss is the each-way call.

Gone are the days when overseas challengers are readily dismissed by the British press, and runners from the Far East have claimed some of the biggest prizes all over the world.

After the Melbourne Cup win of Delta Blues and Victoire Pisa’s success in the Dubai World Cup, Grand Prix Boss should be respected.

He looked a monster when working at Newmarket last week and his form stands up to the closest scrutiny.

In further Group One action, Astrophysical Jet is worth another chance in the King’s Stand Stakes.

Ed McMahon’s speedball progressed at a rate of knots last season, winning a couple of Group Threes at the end of the campaign.

This year has not got off to a great start as she disappointed in the Palace House but was subsequently found to be suffering from a virus.

On official ratings she is not far off the best of them and the fast pace should be right up her street.

Australian sprinter Star Witness heads a global field of 19 for the race.

Danny O’Brien’s speedster, the mount of Steve Arnold, will start from stall 18 in the five-furlong dash.

The two American raiders, Wesley Ward’s Holiday For Kitten and Todd Pletcher’s Bridgetown, have been drawn 17 and 11, respectively.

Hungary’s ace Overdose is in stall 15 as the ‘Budapest Bullet’ attempts to atone for his disappointing run in the Temple Stakes at Haydock on his British debut.

Extra international flavour is added by Mar Adentro from France, Sweet Sanette from Hong Kong and the much-travelled War Artist, who is now trained in Germany.

Edward Lynam’s Temple and Nunthorpe Stakes winner Sole Power and Tracey Collins’s Arctic are the two Irish hopefuls.

The home team comprises Kingsgate Native, Astrophysical Jet, Group Therapy , Iver Bridge Lad, Monsieur Chevalier, Prohibit, Tangerine Trees, Rose Blossom, Swiss Diva (who only runs if the ground is suitable) and Stone Of Folca.

Rain Delayed and Sing Softly were the only withdrawals at the final declaration stage.

Aidan O’Brien’s first winner of the week can come courtesy of Power in the Coventry Stakes.

The Oasis Dream colt created a huge impression when winning over six furlongs on his debut.

O’Brien then dropped him back to five in an attempt to get him really sharp and while he had to work had to win, the runner-up, Tough As Nails, had previously won by seven lengths.

The fact that O’Brien could have run the impressive Reply in this suggests he thinks Power is a bit special.

Zigato stands out in the two-and-a-half-mile Ascot Stakes against more than a few National Hunt types.

John Gosden’s charge is a half-brother to dual Oaks winner Sariska and won over two miles at Ascot in May.

Conditions were the fastest he had encountered, having previously done his winning on the all-weather and with cut in the ground, so nothing should inconvenience him.

The Windsor Castle Stakes looks a minefield but you could not fail to be impressed by Frederick Engels when he won at Musselburgh.

David Brown’s youngster was second to a smart youngster of Kevin Ryan’s, Bapak Cinta, on his debut, and he holds a chance in the Norfolk later in the week.

He then had the misfortune of bumping into the red-hot Queen Mary favourite Shumoos at Haydock.

There was nothing of that calibre in Scotland and he came home six lengths clear so he should be thereabouts.

Michael Bell expects the step up to a mile and a half to bring out the best in Creme Anglaise in Thursday’s Ribblesdale Stakes.

The Motivator filly finished fourth behind the useful Imperial Pippin on her debut and then won at Ascot over 10 furlongs in May.

She beat John Gosden’s Rainbow Springs on that occasion, who had finished third behind Misty For Me in the Prix Marcel Boussac last season.

“Everything is right on target for the Ribblesdale,” said Bell. “We’ve trained her for the race and she’s in good form.

“The form of her Ascot race has taken a few knocks, but she could do no more than win and I think the step up in trip will suit her.”

Ready to mark the 300th year of Ascot racing

It was Queen Anne who first saw the potential for a racecourse at Ascot, which in those days was called East Cote.

Whilst out riding in 1711, she came upon an area of open heath, not far from Windsor Castle, that looked an ideal place for “horses to gallop at full stretch.”

The first race meeting ever held at Ascot took place on Saturday 11th August 1711. Her Majesty’s Plate, worth 100 guineas and open to any horse, mare or gelding over the age of six, was the inaugural event.

Each horse was required to carry a weight of 12st and seven runners took part.

This contest bore little resemblance to racing seen at Ascot today. The seven horses were all English Hunters, quite different to the speedy thoroughbreds that race on the Flat now.

The race consisted of three separate heats which were four miles long (each heat was about the length of the Grand National), so the winner would have been a horse with tremendous stamina.

Sadly, there is no record of the winner of the first Plate.

The racecourse was laid out by William Lowen, who was assisted by a team of helpers; William Erlybrown, a carpenter, Benjamin Cluchett, a painter, and John Grape, who prepared the paperwork for racing. The first permanent building was erected in 1793 by George Slingsby, a Windsor builder. It held 1,650 people and was used until 1838.

In 1813, Parliament passed an Act of Enclosure. This Act ensured that Ascot Heath, although the property of the Crown, would be kept and used as a racecourse for the public in the future.

Racing at Ascot was now secure.

The precise origin of the Royal Meeting is unclear. It was an event that evolved, perhaps, rather than was introduced at a specific time, but the first four-day meeting took place in 1768.

Arguably, the meeting as we know it today started to take shape with the introduction of the Gold Cup in 1807.