Matt Brocklebank feels we've likely seen a few Royal Ascot winners recently, with several of last year's returning heroes firmly in the picture again.
Even-money favourite Charles Darwin was eased off and trailed home last in Sunday’s Goffs Lacken Stakes at Naas as Havana Anna appeared to punch her ticket for a crack at next month's Commonwealth Cup.
Twenty-four hours on from stablemate Albert Einstein’s scrambling second to Song Of The Clyde in Newbury’s Carnarvon, Charles Darwin's feeble effort leaves him with an even greater question to answer as Aidan O'Brien looks to unearth another winner of the Royal Ascot Group 1 after Caravaggio was able to pull off the Lacken-Commonwealth double for O’Brien and 'the lads' nine years ago.
The choicely-bred Charles Darwin had looked a star sprinter in waiting ever since sweeping aside subsequent Middle Park winner Wise Approach in last year’s Norfolk, underlined by his comeback success at Navan, and while he failed to fire for whatever reason this weekend, he just about remains on the list of returning Royal heroes from the class of 2025 entitled to be thinking about going back-to-back at next month’s summer jamboree.
Let's kick off with the more obvious Ballydoyle stablemates True Love and Gstaad, who rounded out the terrific trio of two-year-old’s for O’Brien at Ascot last June.
Gstaad will be first off the blocks in the St James’s Palace Stakes on Tuesday June 16 and he’ll go there with at least one highly promising Classic effort in the book having played second-fiddle behind the impressive Bow Echo, who was out in a league of his own in the Betfred 2000 Guineas.
Gstaad was very well backed on the day, don't forget, which leads us to believe he was certainly close enough to peak fitness, but that’s not to say O’Brien won’t have left just the odd screw still to tighten up going into the Curragh, and if we see something special from the son of Starspangledbanner in Saturday’s Irish 2,000 then that rematch with George Boughey’s beauty will be greatly anticipated.
Just 40 minutes after Charles Darwin potentially lines up alongside fellow RA alumni Venetian Sun (Albany Stakes winner) and Havana Hurricane (Windsor Castle Stakes winner) in the Commonwealth Cup, it’ll be over to True Love in the Coronation Stakes on Royal Ascot Friday, and I don’t know many observers who didn’t completely fall for her in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.
She too has the small matter of a Curragh Classic to negotiate in order to rubberstamp that improvement from two to three – plus her stamina for a fractionally stiffer eight furlongs than the Rowley Mile – but she’s already a short price to become only the third filly to win the Queen Mary at two and double up in the following year’s Coronation - after Geoff Wragg’s Marling (1991-92) and Clive Brittain-trained Rizeena (2013-14).
Back to the Tuesday fare and another three winners from last year could realistically be fancied to go well all over again.
Few horses are likely to have been able to match the Ascot form string of Docklands which now reads 11322214 and his trainer Harry Eustace seems to have kept the fire burning this spring based on his Doncaster Mile win and fine third on FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin last month.
A strong early gallop in the Queen Anne is anticipated again, especially in light of Notable Speech’s Lockinge win on Saturday prompting Charlie Appleby to discuss potential pace-makers, and that scenario suits old boy Docklands down to the ground.
Jim Goldie getting among the celebrations was one of the abiding memories of Royal Ascot 2025 and he’ll no doubt have had a wry smile to himself following American Affair’s long-awaited comeback run in York’s Minster Stakes last week.
The horse stood no real shot from stall 12, given the way the race panned out on the day, but there were positives to be gleaned (replay below) and, as a means to an end, connections were surely satisfied enough to have another shot at the King Charles III.
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Haatem rounds out the Tuesday team back for more, his trainer Richard Hannon identifying Friday’s Festival Stakes (Listed) as a suitable prep/reappearance run for the Wathnan-owned Wolferton winner.
On the subject of big-hitting owners, it's over to Godolphin on Wednesday and Thursday as Ombudsman and Trawlerman will look to defend their crowns in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Gold Cup respectively.
Ombudsman against Minnie Hauk in the Tattersalls Gold Cup sounds like fun but we might be made to wait for that top-tier clash, while presumably the Gosdens will look to give Trawlerman another gentle introduction at Sandown prior to stepping back up to two and a half miles next month.
On the Saturday, Lazzat appears to have his work cut out in this year’s QEII Jubilee Stakes as Australia are planning on sending an above-average raiding party for the big sprints, while final word to a returning eight-year-old bidding to become another repeat winner.
That may sound like a line more fitting of Cheltenham than Royal Ascot, but Rebel’s Romance is one of those rare Flat gems whose talent and longevity make them very easy to root for. And while a bit more diversification in the middle-distance ranks might be nice on the one hand, these things do tend to take a bit of time to evolve. It's a game of natural selection, after all - if only there were a famous work or two to back up the theory.
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