Our form expert has four selections including two at huge prices for day one of Royal Ascot 2026 on Tuesday.
The Verdict: Tuesday June 16
1pt e.w. Zeus Olympios in 14:30 Royal Ascot at 10/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3)
0.5pts e.w. Easy Answer in 15:05 Royal Ascot at 100/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
0.5pts e.w. Heavenly Heather in 15:40 Royal Ascot at 125/1 (William Hill, Unibet 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)
1pt win Puerto Rico in 16:20 Royal Ascot at 11/1 (General)
Don’t underestimate Puerto Rico in the SJP
Royal Ascot starts with a bang as always and picking a day one highlight isn’t easy, but the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes on the round course for the three-year-old milers at 16:20 will take some beating for excitement.
Here we have the brilliant Betfred 2000 Guineas winner Bow Echo taking on Newmarket runner-up and subsequent Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Gstaad, with Talk Of New York the chosen one for Godolphin.
Talk Of New York has come along a quiet route to Royal Ascot, but he is well worth his place in the line-up and so is Ballydoyle second string PUERTO RICO under Christophe Soumillon, and at 11/1 he looks the bet in the race.
Bow Echo is odds-on and you can see why; he was an above-average winner of the 2000 Guineas, but he was hard fit for that test and he hasn’t gone round a right-handed bend before, so this does ask a different question of him.
Of course, he could answer that in style, but tactically this is a fascinating contest – it usually is and even Frankel nearly got beat in this race - and I do wonder if Soumillon might just be able to dictate matters from the front end in this small field.
Stablemate Gstaad needs a good pace to aim at and Puerto Rico might well fulfil that role, but he had a bit of the streetfighter about him as he made the running in small fields at two and he got better and better as he moved out in trip.
Indeed, his Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere win stands up to close inspection, as he did it easily from horses that have franked the form since including the Poulains winner Rayif, Francis-Henri Graffard’s colt a late defector from this race.
I’d have fancied Puerto Rico to reverse the Poulains form had Rayif been in here on these very different conditions, as Aidan O’Brien’s son of Wootton Bassett shaped like he would come on significantly for his first run of the year in France.
He wasn’t quite at his best at Longchamp last time, but he still ran really well after not having much room to operate in in the straight and I think he can leave that form well behind if he gets to front run in this smaller field again.
I don’t think he needs soft ground to be at his best, his Champagne Stakes win that worked out very well came on much better conditions, and Soumillon knows him very well after winning two Group 1s on him from the front in France last October.
This is a very good race and he might not be good enough, but there hasn’t been enough evidence to toss him out of calculations yet and at 11/1 I’ll take my chance.
The Verdict: Back PUERTO RICO in the 16:20 Royal Ascot
Zeus to come of age in the Queen Anne
The meeting kicks off with the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes for the older milers on the straight track and a lot boils down to whether Notable Speech can bring his best form to the table at this meeting.
For whatever reason, he has been below-par in his last two visits here but he will have to be right on his A-game to see off a field that has potential.
Given he’s the 7/4 favourite I’m happy to take him on and with Opera Ballo’s two defeats coming on straight tracks I’ll be drawing a line through the strong Godolphin challenge for all the pair have a lot of quality.
Last year’s winner Docklands is respected given he usually peaks here and More Thunder could have more to offer at this trip, but Karl Burke’s ZEUS OLYMPIOS offers the best value at 10/1.
The son of Night Of Thunder looked a miler out of the very top drawer when he burst onto the scene late in his three-year-old career, his easy win over Opera Ballo in the Joel Stakes an indication of his high level of ability.
Things haven’t quite clicked in two starts this season, but it should be remembered they were just the fifth and sixth runs of his career and there was loads of promise in his run in the Lockinge last time when third behind Notable Speech and More Thunder.
He stumbled at the start and was initially posted out wide from his draw in stall one, but he did the best of those ridden prominently and it was a clear step forward from his Sandown reappearance.
This time he’s drawn in the thick of it from stall five and he might just get the perfect tow into things off Opera Ballo.
In such a scenario a season’s best could well be forthcoming and that will put him bang in the mix - in a field of nine an each-way bet looks the play.
The Verdict: Back ZEUS OLYMPIOS in the 14:30 Royal Ascot
Going for a boilover in the King Charles III
Aussie raider Overpass heads the betting for the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes over five furlongs but the international challenge isn’t as strong as it might have been and the market has predictably cornered on the seven-year-old.
It’s well known the domestic sprinters are much of a muchness so it’s understandable he’s favourite and he could blow the field away, but for all his speed the five-furlong trip is alien to him and the percentage play is to take him on with something each-way.
All of the ingredients are there for a skinner; the unknown quantity of an overseas-trained favourite, the Ascot straight track, 26 runners in a 5f Group 1, a wild division, and with a 200/1 winner of the Champions Sprint fresh in the memory perhaps lightning can strike twice in quick succession.
It’s ripe for a speculative punt and with lots of pace stands’ side thanks to Overpass, Aspect Island, Jakajaro and Mission Central, it’s Tracy Waggott’s HEAVENLY HEATHER who I have come down on for a small each-way bet at 125/1.
As you would expect at those sort of odds she has plenty to find on the ratings, but I’m not surprised her trainer has identified this race for her as she is crying out for a hell-for-leather gallop over a stiff five furlongs on turf.
With no handicap option under those conditions for a five-year-old at this meeting connections have rolled the dice and from everything we’ve seen from this mare she can outrun her odds in a big way.
Not only has she got previous at causing a major shock – she was a 200/1 winner at Newcastle on All-Weather Finals Day last year - but she is improving with racing and she’ll be hard fit for this having been on the go since last September.
Hugely unexposed over five furlongs having had just four career starts over the distance, she is excelling over the minimum trip in good big-field handicap company where having a lightning pace to chase plays to her strengths.
Having gathered most of her experience on the all-weather at Newcastle, this stiff, sand-based track should suit and in a division more akin to the wacky races I’m more than happy to have a small punt on her at huge odds.
The Verdict: Back HEAVENLY HEATHER in the 15:40 Royal Ascot
Take it Easy in the Coventry
Finally, Michael Bell’s team are in good form and nearly all of his two-year-olds are improving for a run ahead of EASY ANSWER’s tilt at the Group 2 Coventry Stakes.
Two Ballydoyle-trained sons of No Nay Never head the betting here and they will command plenty of attention, but Easy Answer is another promising son of the same sire and he caught the eye when third on debut at Yarmouth.
Held up in a bid to get settled, he raced keenly under Hector Crouch and a slow early pace contributed to an ordinary time, but he responded well to pressure despite running green and he was short of room when making his challenge up the rail.
In short there was bags of promise and a great deal of improvement could be forthcoming, just like there was from the same stable’s Margot Did (second in the Albany) and The Lir Jet (winner of the Norfolk) who both came to Royal Ascot via Yarmouth.
Indeed, Bell is pretty selective with his Royal Ascot juveniles these days, but Maylandsea was another once-raced horse who ran a cracker here on second start for the yard a few years ago (second in the 2022 Queen Mary at 28/1) and Easy Answer might be a tad underestimated at 100/1 for owners the Royal Ascot Racing Club.
The Verdict: Back EASY ANSWER in the 15:05 Royal Ascot
Preview posted at 16:00 BST on 15/06/26
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