Our form expert has four selections for day one of Royal Ascot 2025 including in the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes.
The Verdict: Tuesday June 17
0.5pts e.w Carl Spackler in 2.30 Royal Ascot at 18/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power 1/5 1,2,3,4)
1pt win American Gulf in 3.05 Royal Ascot at 10/1 (Betfred, 9/1 General)
1pt e.w Starlust in 3.40 Royal Ascot at 14/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
1pt win Sons And Lovers in 5.35 Royal Ascot at 8/1 (bet365, BetVictor)
Star to shine in King Charles III
With the ground largely good to firm and the warm weather set in for the week we’re all ready for a fabulous five days at Royal Ascot and day one starts with a bang.
Field Of Gold could be the opening day star in the St James’s Palace Stakes, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Henri Matisse give him a proper race on the faster ground and I can certainly see why his price has contracted into 7/2.
Still, it looks a race to watch and enjoy with so many other punting opportunities on the table and the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes looks a good race to have a go at.
There is no standout sprinter in this and it’s probably a tougher race than the one Asfoora won last year, but the key here is the likely very strong gallop on fast ground as such a scenario won’t be for everyone.
In a big field with a load of prominent speedsters they’re going to go very quick and that will be right up STARLUST’s street.
Ralph Beckett took a while to figure out his strengths, running him over six furlongs for the bulk of his first year on the track, but the gears he showed over five at York three times last summer marked him out as a five-furlong horse.
Indeed, he loves nothing more than chasing down a lightning pace on fast ground over five and that perfect storm came together for him at the Breeders’ Cup where he ran out a neck winner from a very quick American-trained horse in Motorious.
That rival has won a couple of graded races subsequently at Santa Anita, including just on Sunday, while the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint third Ag Bullet won the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at Saratoga last weekend, so the form looks really strong.
Starlust needed his run in the Temple Stakes when he had to saddle a Group 1 penalty, but he stepped up significantly from first to second start last year and I would expect the same again here granted his ideal set up.
The Verdict: Back STARLUST in the 3.40 Royal Ascot
You’ll be my American boy
Starlust’s owner Fitri Hay could be in for a good day and I want to get with her Coventry Stakes gamble AMERICAN GULF for Paul & Oliver Cole.
It’s a shame the double-figure prices were hoovered up on Monday but it’s understandable after the deep impression he made at Windsor, one tap from Oisin Murphy all that was required to keep him galloping on for an easy three-and-a-quarter length success.
He was the Coles’ first two-year-old winner of the year and there was a time when Paul Cole farmed the Coventry, winning it three times in the 1990s with Dilum, Sri Pekan and Red Sea.
This horse is from a family of winners and his pedigree points to juvenile success as he’s related to 2yo winners like Mammas Girl, Master Of War and Arabie, while his sire, Ardad, has produced a winning Royal Ascot juvenile in Perfect Power as well as placed horses Crispy Cat, Columnist and Vintage Clarets.
There will be a few horses for the future in this race, but the professional American Gulf looks all about the here and now and the early money looks well worth following.
The Verdict: Back AMERICAN GULF in the 3.05 Royal Ascot
Spackler a Cinderella story in Queen Anne
The meeting kicks off with an excellent edition of the Queen Anne Stakes and the betting is dominated by the quartet of horses who finished in the first four in the Lockinge.
That form could be turned on its head here if Rosallion and Notable Speech improve for their seasonal reappearances but there might not be much between the foursome and I wouldn’t be shocked to see the winner come from elsewhere.
Diego Velazquez has every chance if fit and firing after nine months off, but at the prices I can’t resist a small each-way bet on CARL SPACKLER.
Formerly trained in the United States by Chad Brown, this horse is a pure miler who has improved with racing and he loves fast ground.
Indeed, his win in the Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes at Keeneland in April was a career-best run and it puts him bang in the mix on ratings, while he got a poor trip from a wide draw when beaten two lengths by Notable Speech in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
He’s tactically versatile which gives James McDonald options, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him held up for a late run and he might just take the Europeans by surprise.
It’s hard to know how ready he is, but the very fact he was supplemented by his new Australian team bodes well, as do the reports of a sparkling piece of work on the July Course under Jamie Spencer last Wednesday.
There’s no doubt it looks a deep race, but Carl Spackler hasn’t been given the respect he deserves at 20/1 and he’s worth backing.
The Verdict: Back CARL SPACKLER in the 2.30 Royal Ascot
One for the Lovers
Finally, Joseph O’Brien’s SONS AND LOVERS can win the Listed Wolferton Stakes over 10 furlongs under Ryan Moore.
Formerly trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam, the Study Of Man gelding has improved for his new handler and has shaped like there is plenty more to come.
I liked how he kept on to be beaten just three lengths by Los Angeles in the Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh last time out, form that has been very nicely franked since, and this looks a great bit of placing by O’Brien.
The Mooresbridge run was evidence he had improved from his stable debut, where he finished a place behind subsequent Coronation Cup hero Jan Brueghel, and 10 furlongs on a stiff right-handed track looks ideal.
He’ll get further, but a big field and likely strong gallop over this trip could well be the catalyst for a career-best run here, the jockey booking suggesting such a scenario is almost expected.
The Verdict: Back SONS AND LOVERS in the 5.35 Royal Ascot
Preview posted at 1605 BST on 16/06/25
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