Get the view from connections ahead of Saturday's action at Royal Ascot
Check out the latest views from leading connections ahead of Saturday's feature races at Royal Ascot.
1505 Jersey Stakes
Charlie Appleby's Space Blues is favourite for the Jersey Stakes on the back of two impressive recent wins at York and Epsom. Happy Power holds claims as does Richard Hannon's Urban Icon, who finished a neck behind Space Blues last time out.
"Urban Icon looks a very good horse. He was very unlucky not to win last time in the Surrey Stakes on Oaks day, he should be very competitive," Hannon told Unibet.
1540 Hardwicke Stakes
Charlie Appleby is confident Masar's powers remain very much intact ahead of his much-anticipated return in Saturday's Hardwicke Stakes.
The New Approach colt became the first horse to carry the royal blue silks of Godolphin to victory in the Investec Derby at Epsom last season, but a leg injury kept him off the track for the remainder of the campaign.
Appleby has been aiming his stable star at Royal Ascot for some time, eventually opting to run in this mile-and-a-half Group Two over the 10-furlong Prince of Wales's Stakes - a decision he is more than comfortable with after watching Wednesday's Group One feature.
"It has been the plan for some time to bring him back at this meeting and we're looking forward to running him," said the Newmarket handler. "We considered the Prince of Wales's Stakes, but after watching the race on Wednesday - up against that competition and the way the ground was - I think we've made the right call. He wouldn't have run on Wednesday had we declared for the Prince Of Wales's.
"His preparation has been great and he has hit every target during his recovery. He has definitely come forward for the piece of work we saw at Newmarket and I just can't wait for the race to come now. If he can show on Saturday afternoon what he's been showing us in the mornings, he'll be a live contender."
Bringing the Derby hero back to the racecourse after over a year on the sidelines undoubtedly comes with plenty of pressure, but Appleby is relishing the challenge.
He added: "I'm very fortunate that throughout my career the horses have taken the pressure for me - those good horses just turn up on the big day and that's why they are who they are. Masar has been there and done it and looks fantastic. I can't fault the horse and I'm looking forward to it."
Sir Michael Stoute has saddled a record 11 previous winners of the Hardwicke - including eight of the last 13. This year the master of Freemason Lodge saddles Mirage Dancer, a son of Frankel who made a winning reappearance in a Listed event at Goodwood.
Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah, said: "Mirage Dancer is going very nicely. They have done fantastically well with him as he had an unhappy trip to and back from Hong Kong last December. It was no fault of Hong Kong, it was just unlucky the way things panned out, but he has come back very nicely.
"He had a smooth run at Goodwood. He is stepping back up to Group Two company again, but we have got Sir Michael's good history in the race on our side. Whether that counts for anything, I don't know, but he does know how to train a Hardwicke winner.
"He goes there with a nice chance - he just has the tiny matter of taking on last year's Derby winner."
Roger Varian's Defoe bids to follow up his Coronation Cup victory of three weeks ago. He is reopposed by the third Salouen (Sylvester Kirk), fourth-placed Communique (Mark Johnston), sixth Lah Ti Dar (John Gosden) and the eighth Morando (Andrew Balding).
Aidan O'Brien's Southern France and the Czech raider Nagano Gold complete the nine-strong field.
1620 Diamond Jubilee Stakes
Blue Point seeks to continue his love affair with Ascot and complete a famous double in Saturday's Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
In successfully defending his crown in Tuesday's King's Stand Stakes, the five-year-old was claiming his fourth win in five appearances at the Berkshire circuit - his only defeat coming in the 2017 Commonwealth Cup when a close-up third behind Caravaggio and Harry Angel.
A step back up from five to six furlongs is not seen as a major hindrance to a horse who has won seven times over the longer trip - including twice over the Diamond Jubilee course and distance. The obvious question is whether Blue Point can run up to his very best just four days after his latest triumph.
However, Charlie Appleby could not be happier with how his charge has taken those exertions ahead of his bid to follow in the hoofprints of the Australian speedball Choisir - the last horse to complete the King's Stand-Diamond Jubilee double in 2003.
"It's a very sporting decision by His Highness (Sheikh Mohammed) and we all think it is the right thing to do," said the Newmarket handler. "He always seems to bring his A-game to Ascot and he broke the track record over six furlongs there a couple of years ago.
"This is his last season in training and he's only got two more opportunities to run at Ascot - in the Diamond Jubilee on Saturday and on Champions Day in October, by which time the ground might have gone for him. Looking at the forecast, it looks like the ground will be good again by Saturday and we think he deserves to take his chance."
The ante-post favourite for the last month has been the James Tate-trained Invincible Army, who could hardly have been more impressive in winning the Cammidge Trophy at Doncaster and the Duke of York Stakes this spring.
Tate did not anticipate having to take on Blue Point at the start of the week, but is thrilled with the condition of his own stable star.
He said: "I'm just concentrating on my own horse and he seems in very good form. I wasn't happy to see the rain falling for my horse in the Royal Hunt Cup (New Graduate) on Wednesday, but I was pleased for Invincible Army.
"It looks like the ground will be on the slow side of good come Saturday, which will be perfect, and his preparation has gone perfectly. I'm very happy with my horse and now it's time for him to take on the best and see if he can beat them."
Last year's second and third in Stephane Wattel's City Light and Wesley Ward's Bound For Nowhere are back for more, while the 2017 winner - James Fanshawe's The Tin Man - is out to regain his crown in one of the key races in the sprint division of the QIPCO British Champions Series.
The latter will need to improve significantly from his comeback third at Windsor last month, but his trainer is confident he can, ahead of the latest race in the Qipco British Champions Series.
Fanshawe said: "He had a 7lb penalty (at Windsor) and it was a messy race, plus a couple of weeks before he had a bit of muck on his chest. He's always been prone to that - it's something we always have to keep an eye on with him. The most important thing is that he's had a run. He's never been one to show you a great deal at home, but he looks really well in himself and he's in good form. You never quite know with him until you run, but I've been very happy with his preparation."
The winner of that Listed event at Windsor was the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Dream Of Dreams, who is in opposition again.
"Dream Of Dreams is a solid Group-race performer," said Stoute. "He didn't pick one up last year when he got beat in a few photos. I have been very pleased with his two runs this year."
Richard Fahey's Sands Of Mali rounded off his 2018 campaign with victory in the British Champions Sprint at this venue, but has not yet rediscovered his best form this year - finishing sixth behind Blue Point in Dubai and third when a hot favourite at Hamilton.
Fahey said: "Don't get me wrong, I was disappointed he got beaten at Hamilton, but on reflection he was taking on two very fit horses (Brando and Donjuan Triumphant) and they went a very good gallop and it just found him out. I've been very happy with him since and he'll be wearing a tongue-strap for the first time."
Like Blue Point, Le Brivido turns out for the second time this week after finishing fifth in Tuesday's Queen Anne Stakes.
Trainer Aidan O'Brien said: "We had it in the back of the mind that he might not stay a mile, so that is why he was put in this race. If everything is well with the horse, we will let him take his chance. I thought he ran well in the Queen Anne, just the trip was a little too far. I think races over six and seven furlongs could be his trip."
1700 Wokingham Stakes
Tony Carroll's three-year-old Recon Mission makes a swift return to action in Saturday's Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The former Michael O'Callaghan inmate made every yard of the running in a valuable race at York last weekend, with connections at the time lukewarm about turning him out again quickly. However, his 5lb penalty means he sneaks into the 28-runner cavalry charge and since he has been raised 7lb for his all-the-way win, he is 2lb ahead of the handicapper.
"With scraping into the race with his penalty, we've decided to give it a go," said Carroll. "He's clearly in great form and has come out of the York race very well. The forecast was in our favour and given it is almost the last race of the meeting, it gives him as much chance as possible to get over the York race. It's exciting and hopefully it pays off."
At the other end of the scale is Mick Appleby's Danzeno, who won for the first time in almost two years last time out. The eight-year-old bolted up by six lengths and has the assistance of Frankie Dettori in the saddle.
"I think he's got a good draw in 17 and the ground should be spot on for him," said Appleby. "The owners contacted Frankie to ride so that can't be a negative either, the way he's been riding this week. He's going there with a really good chance, I think."
He added: "It gave me a lot of satisfaction getting him to win last time at Nottingham after a bit of time in the wilderness. I don't think it was a great race, but he couldn't have won it any easier than he did. It was a good performance."
Jeremy Noseda aims to go out on a high as his last ever runner will be Cenotaph, ridden by Ryan Moore.
Jim Bolger has an interesting contender in the Argentinian import Southern Horse, while Gifted Master, winner of the Stewards' Cup, and Baron Bolt, who dead-heated for the Ayr Gold Cup, also line up.
1735 Queen Alexandra
The Queen Alexandra sees Paul Nicholls' high-class chaser Black Corton line up in preparation for the Galway Plate. He will be ridden by the trainer's daughter, Megan.
Nicholls said: "Black Corton is going for the Galway Plate, and it would be nice to give him a run before it. This is just over a month before it and fits in nicely. I didn't really want to run him over jumps at this time of year, and Megan (Nicholls) came up with the idea over the weekend."
Willie Mullins' Max Dynamite is sure to be popular, with Ryan Moore taking the ride.
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