Day three at Royal Ascot including replays and reaction

A Mez-ing effort

Mezcala got back to winning ways after a power-packed late burst between rivals in the Buckingham Palace Stakes.

Jack Channon's improving four-year-old had won the Spring Mile at Doncaster on seasonal debut before another promising run in third at Newbury and he was not to be denied under Tom Marquand for the first time in 2026.

The field split into two groups as usual, with the majority of the runners heading towards the stands' side, and it looked like Billy Loughnane might collect another Royal winner as he skipped into the lead on Elarak with a furlong and a half to travel.

He just ran out of puff on the final climb to the line, however, leaving the door ajar for Mezcala and the well-backed 9/2 joint-favourite took it by winning with a bit to spare.

Great Acclaim ran well for third with the other joint-favourite Blue Brother back in fourth for the Wathnan Racing team.

Channon said: “We thought the Hunt Cup would be his race. He has got cover today, and that is the first time he has had it this year. He has got a great turn of foot, but he is a very good horse.

“He is a real good, clean moving horse. A lot of the family do like a bit of juice. He is as good a mover as we have had in the family. He should have won at Newbury. George ((Bass) gave him a beautiful ride from where he was, but you can’t do all your own work in these high grade races.

“Today is the first time he has had cover and he has shown what an electric turn off foot he has when he gets it. I still think it is a miler, but it is a real stiff seven furlongs here. We were hopeful it would be okay. I definitely think he is stakes class, but let’s see what the handicapper does.

“He has won that off 94, so it might be another handicap beforehand, but if not we might look at stakes races.

“It is brilliant for the whole team at West Ilsley as they do an amazing job with these horses. It is an absolutely fantastic day. It was one of those where you just wanted him to get out, but he is a good horse.

“John and Julia (Aisbitt, owners) have got a good record breeding these lovely sort of milers. It has been thirteen years since West Ilsley had a Royal Ascot winner, and they owned and bred the last one. It is wonderful to do it for them as they are great breeders and he is a very good horse.”

Fourth winner of week for Joseph O'Brien

Enceladus held on narrowly from Al Azd to claim the King George V Stakes and provide trainer Joseph O'Brien with a fourth winner of the week.

Ridden by Ryan Moore, the Cork maiden scorer broke from stall 13 and settled into an early rhythm just behind the leading half-dozen horses. Moore kept out of trouble out wide in fourth spot as the 12-furlong contest developed and he was in the perfect position to strike turning into the straight.

Enceladus was rousted into the lead soon after turning for home and stayed on strongly despite drifting over to the far-side rails. Roger Varian's Al Azd (11/1) came home powerfully to take second, with 14/1 chance Believed third and Heyzoom fourth at 6/1.

Paddy Power and Sky Bet reacted by trimming the winner to 33/1 (from 50s) for the Irish Derby at the Curragh.

Moore said: "I had a nice, smooth run. He began well, he relaxed lovely on the outside of them, he didn't go mad at any stage of the race and he just relaxed and was comfortable and he was finding all the way in the straight.

"He was only having his fourth run so everyone is probably still learning about him but he's a big, scopey horse. He may [get further], I don't think he has to. It just shows you the strength there is in Ireland, this is Joseph's [O'Brien] fourth winner - quite incredible."

O'Brien said: "The race set up differently today to what it usually does as there was a slow pace on and Ryan (Moore) made a good move early to change the plan a little bit and get a good spot, and that was the winning of the race I think. The horse was very tenacious.

“I’m so delighted for Maria (Niarchos). She has been good to me the whole of my training career and to have another Royal Ascot winner for her and the team is very special. We are very lucky to be able to train some nice horses with good pedigrees for Maria and the family.

“This guy had a very good two-year-old season and we thought he would enjoy stepping up in trip. The plan was to wait for today to do that, and I’m delighted to come here and get another winner. There was not a huge amount to separate the three of them. The winner got a great run on the day. The set up was ideal. The pace was not that fast, and he had a lovely position.

“You come here doing the best you can and having the horses prepared the best you can and hope for the best. He is a Sea The Stars and we thought this trip would suit him well. If you win a handicap at Royal Ascot, particularly one of the three year old races, you are generally a stakes race horse in the making. He is a Group horse in the making hopefully."

Varian said of Al Azd: “He has run a great race. He looked the winner all the way up the straight until the final 50 yards, so I've got no complaints. Good run. Yes, I think this is the right trip for him now."

Moonfall stars for Boughey

George Boughey was celebrating another Royal winner as Moonfall won the Britannia Stakes under young Australian rider Zac Lloyd.

Boughey landed Tuesday's St James's Palace with stable star Bow Echo and sent the unexposed Moonfall into battle on the back of an eyecatching fifth at Chester's May meeting.

Lloyd was never too far off the pace on the 13/2 chance and, after taking it up over a furlong out, the horse kept up the gallop to beat strong-finishing runner-up Outback Heat (10/1). The well-backed Jamestown was third at 11/2 with 33/1 chance Lion Of Alba fourth.

Boughey said: “We thought he was a progressive horse through last year and things didn’t quite work out for him. I actually scratched him at Doncaster as I wasn’t happy with him when I saw him at the track then the ground went.

“We know he wants fast ground as his half-sister (Soprano) won the Sandringham and we thought he was off a nice mark to run well. I thought Zac gave him a lovely ride. The straight mile is not something Australian jockeys see much of, but he has got a cool head on his shoulders and credit to him.

“He probably jumped a little bit faster than we thought so to get him to switch off and preserve his energy was good. We actually won the race at Chester he ran in last time with McMurray. Sadly he had a little setback and missed a couple of weeks and didn’t get here, but he was an able deputy.

“Today was the plan and we will work back from what the handicapper says.”

Soul stars for Stack

Nola Soul toughed it out to win the Listed Chesham Stakes under a power-packed Seamie Heffernan.

The 11/2 shot, trained by Fozzy Stack, raced freely in a prominent position and came under the pump over two furlongs from home.

However, the Leopardstown maiden scorer dug deep under pressure and he battled bravely to score by a diminishing half-length from the staying-on 28/1 chance On Just Terms from the Joseph O'Brien stable.

Third went to Aperoll at 12/1, while there was a high-profile withdrawal at the start after Aidan O'Brien-trained favourite Aix La Chapelle got in a stew in the stalls.

Paddy Power and Sky Bet introduced the winner at 25/1 for the 1000 Guineas next spring.

Stack said: “It was a good display; he is a big powerful galloper that keeps galloping. He is a very big horse, a rhythm horse as he can keep going for a long time.

“He hadn’t done a lot going to Leopardstown and he had only worked on grass once. We just took our chance as he looked like being a nice horse. We had to run at Leopardstown if we wanted to come here. He was a bit clueless at Leopardstown, but he was a bit better today thank God.

“He is a gentleman of a horse at home, but just at the stalls, when you go to push him in, he can lash back a bit so you just have to play around with him, but he does go in.

“The form of his race at Leopardstown has worked out well with King Of Cloughan winning the Windsor Castle. You would like to end up in one of the big two-year-old races at the end of the year like at Doncaster (Champagne Stakes) or the Dewhurst.

“We could maybe take him to the Futurity Stakes at home, but they are first world problems and we are very lucky to have him.”

Hannon said of Aperoll: “She broke very well, almost too well, which is unlike her. You come to this place to see if you have a Group class filly, and the answer to that is yes. If you come here, and finish third, and are disappointed then you are not in the real world.

“We would have liked to have had a bit of cover, but they say the splits of the first few furlongs were unreal. We might go back to six furlongs with her. She is a very good filly and that is the good news.

“She is a filly for next year and she would be competitive at the top level. A fillies only race would be easier, but it wouldn’t worry me taking on the colts again as we have an extremely talented filly to take to the best races.

"We could look at a Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes with her. There is the Moyglare and Prix du Calvados as well. She has run a super race and it is a massive step up from her Newbury maiden."

Balding holds Court with Generic

Generic landed the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes for Andrew Balding at 18/1 in the colours of his old patron Jeff Smith later on the card.

The son of Kameko further franked the form of Aidan O'Brien's French Derby hero Constitution River here after finishing second to that horse when last seen in the Dee Stakes at Chester.

He was seven lengths behind that horse on the Roodee but he had a length to spare over another Ballydoyle resident at Royal Ascot in Endorsement (11/8 favourite) who was given a strong ride by Ryan Moore only to finish second.

Indeed, when Moore came through with his challenge the prominently-ridden Mountain Cat almost lost Kieran Shoemark when he got unbalanced and that previously unbeaten horse was eased home.

Glacius (33/1) was third for Hugo Palmer.

Balding said: “He probably was overpriced today. We thought we were in the mix. Although the form looked solid it was a strong time as well what he achieved at Chester.

“We just felt we were better coming off here. I had put him in the handicap here on Saturday, but I just felt that this looked open enough and worth a go.

“I was happy from an early stage. I thought James gave him a peach of a ride. I was always confident when he peeled out that the horse was going to find something so I’m really delighted.

“I was at St Mary’s the day that he won at Yarmouth and I remember watching it on the little screen on my phone. I was thinking at the point we had a decent horse then and that looks the case now.

“We were always hopeful he could develop into a Royal Ascot type, but you never know. He was very difficult to train last year as he was quite heavy and had a few soundness issues, but he was gelded over the winter and that has made all the difference.

“I think we have to let the dust settle and look at our options. I think this trip is ideal and I think he is the type of horse that could go travelling so there could be some nice international races for him.”

More to read on Royal Ascot 2026

• Willie Mullins' runners guide
• Kieran Shoemark on latest rides
• Royal Ascot racecards, form and FREE video replays
• Royal Ascot going and weather forecast
• Royal Ascot odds with Sky Bet
• Royal Ascot free bets
• Ben Linfoot punting Q&A
• Mark Howard's Horses to Follow
• Alex Hammond: Royal Ascot blog
• Andrew Balding: My Royal Ascot team
• Karl Burke: My Royal Ascot team
• George Scott: My Royal Ascot team
• Paddy Twomey: My Royal Ascot team
• Latest Royal Ascot tips and features

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