Timeform's man at the track David Cleary with his initial thoughts on the big races at Royal Ascot.
Gold Cup - Thursday June 22
Those of us who arrived at Ascot fully expecting a stunning performance from an unbeaten Gosden-trained runner got one, only perhaps not quite the one we anticipated.
Recent effortless Goodwood winner Al Asifah fell short when sent off at odds on for the Ribblesdale Stakes, but Courage Mon Ami made light of a huge rise in class to land the Gold Cup on only his fourth racecourse appearance.
Having won just two novices on the all-weather and a Goodwood handicap off a mark of 98, Courage Mon Ami showed no signs of being a rookie on his first try in the big league, the manner in which he quickened from off the pace to the heels of the leaders when a gap appeared in the straight and then the way he saw off the determined challenge of the favourite Coltrane marked him out as one that could dominate the staying division this summer and beyond.
Coltrane went down by under a length, clear of the rest, and may well have run another career best. The 2021 winner Subjectivist ensured the race was a proper test of stamina and stuck to his task well to hold third, the placed pair and fourth Emily Dickinson giving plenty of substance to the form.
One other point worth noting about Courage Mon Ami – he followed Triple Time and Mostahdaf as the third first-time Group 1 winner of the week by his sire Frankel. Add in Chaldean and Soul Sister, and Frankel is having the sort of season as a stallion that might have been hoped for from his racing career.
Prince of Wales's Stakes - Wednesday June 21
The Prince of Wales's, worth a million and perhaps the most mouthwatering clash of the week in prospect. And why not, with a quartet of high-class, closely matched runners in opposition, and yet they were completely upstaged by Mostahdaf, who hadn't previously looked in quite the same league.
The perceived principals came into the race in reasonable form, at least, so it's hard to believe all four were well below their best. That implies that Mostahdaf has found a fair bit of improvement to produce an effort on a par with the best those he vanquished had achieved previously.
What was particularly impressive about his performance was the manner in which Mostahdaf swept from the rear to the front in the straight, soon in control and kept up to his work to maintain his advantage. Make no mistake, this was a high-class effort and Mustahdaf served notice that he will be to the fore in the conversation when it comes to races like the Juddmonte International and the Champion Stakes.
St James's Palace Stakes - Tuesday June 20
Not every top race serves its explicit purpose on every occasion, but there was no doubt that today's running of the St James's Palace established beyond question the pecking order among the classic generation of milers before they tackle their older rivals.
Positioned in the calendar to attract the Guineas winners from across Europe, the Newmarket hero Chaldean, Paddington, who won the Irish version, and Isaac Shelby, runner-up in the Poulains in France, all took to the field in what looked a good renewal. Chaldean dictated but was readily picked off by Paddington with more than a furlong still to run, the winner striding clear as the effort told late on on the runner-up.
Paddington, completing a five-timer, has improved with every run, his performance a high-class effort that looks well up to standard for the St James's Palace. It was also a performance that suggests there is still more to come, and he ought to be more than a match for the best of the older milers, should he be targeted at races like the Sussex.
Particularly given Paddington's pedigree, there will likely be a temptation to try him over a mile and a quarter. The older brigade looks stronger at that distance, but such is the manner in which Paddington is progressing physically and in form terms, that he will have a big say wherever connections aim him.
Chaldean likely wasn't in quite the same form as he had been on testing ground at Newmarket, though it's hard to see him turning the tables on the winner were they to meet again.
