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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Tony Paley, with Greg Wood at Ascot

Royal Ascot 2021: day one – as it happened

Kevin Manning on Poetic Flare.
Kevin Manning on Poetic Flare. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Royal Ascot is (half) back!

Well that was a day that had ... if not everything ... then a good way towards that goal. Royal Ascot returned with just 12,000 spectators as a designated government sporting trial (“next slide please”) and while the traditional finale singing at the bandstand looked thinly populated and a little half-hearted if I’m honest it was a massive improvement on last year’s behind-closed-doors version of the great meeting which is as much, if not more, about the pageantry and social occasion off the track as it is about the action on it. Frankie Dettori won the opener on the much-vaunted Palace Pier which helped. A favourite had won, ridden by the favourite of the Ascot crowd. Later, Poetic Flare was an impressive winner of the feature race of the day to set up what could be some battle between the pair at Goodwood for the Sussex Stakes. With all eyes on Rachael Blackmore, who flopped on a huge gamble, it was perhaps fitting that the supreme female talent on the Flat, Hollie Doyle, should pop up with a winner. The Queen (a late non-runner having been expected at the meeting on the days when she had a runner and she did have one on Tuesday) would have enjoyed it all at home and she will be itching to get back later in the week. Let’s hope so. She was missed as was a full crowd. Roll on 2022!

Runners race down the track at Royal Ascot.
Runners race down the track at Royal Ascot. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

Great to see Hollie Doyle grab the second winner of her career at Royal Ascot. A stylish and tactically astute rider

Copper Horse Handicap (6.10pm) result

1 Amtiyaz (Hollie Doyle) 33-1
2 Dubious Affair (J P Spencer) 33-1
3 Global Storm (W Buick) 4-1
15 ran
Also: 15-8 Fav Saldier, 8-1 Arthurian Fable 4th
Non Runner: 1

Copper Horse Handicap (6.10pm)

And they’re off ... Galata Bridge is leading with Saldier, the well-backed favourite, bvery close up in third spot ... Amtiyaz is in second ... Brilliant Light is prominent too ... Saldier being pushed along now ... Arthurian Fable trying to get there ... Amytiyaz with Dubious Affair finishing late ... Amtiyaz and Hollie Doyle hold on!

Updated

Lot of talk about the drugs controversy already over last couple of days - even before Jim Bolger won today’s big race. Won’t go away

Copper Horse Handicap (6.10pm) betting

  • Saldier - 7/2
  • Global Storm - 9/2
  • Throne Hall - 7/1
  • Arthurian Fable -15/2
  • Brilliant Light - 11/1
  • On To Victory - 14/1
  • Amtiyaz - 20/1
  • Themaxwecan - 20/1
  • Sleeping Lion - 20/1
  • Gold Maze - 22/1
  • Hochfield - 25/1
  • Cardano 28/1
  • Hyanna - 28/1
  • Galata Bridge - 33/1
  • Sextant - 40/1
  • Dubious Affair - 40/1
  • Full betting here

Copper Horse Handicap (6.10pm) preview

A highly-competitive handicap to round off the day, with Willie Mullins fielding the likely favourite in Saldier, another horse more familiar to followers of the winter game. A dual Grade One winner over hurdles, Saldier returned to the Flat for the first time in four years at Listowel nine days ago and strode seven lengths clear of a dozen opponents without being asked a serious question.

Mullins has saddled four winners of the Ascot Stakes and two more in the Queen Alexandra, the final race of the meeting, from his small band of runners over the last 10 years and Saldier could easily be another, but he is up against a Flat powerhouse in Global Storm, who runs for Charlie Appleby’s Derby-winning Godolphin stable, while another runner in Godolphin blue, Saeed bin Suroor’s Briliant Light, will bid to give the trainer his 37th Royal winner but also his first since 2017. Arthurian Fable, for the Brian Meehan stable, also deserves close inspection at around 8-1, with the form of his four-length second in the Melrose at York last August looking particularly strong in the context of today’s race.

Selection: ARTHURIAN FABLE

Racegoers enjoying the sunshine at Ascot ahead of the next race.
Racegoers enjoy the sunshine at Ascot between races. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

Wolferton Listed Stakes (5.35pm) result

1 Juan Elcano (Andrea Atzeni) 14-1
2 Patrick Sarsfield (Tom Marquand) 4-1 Jt Fav
3 Solid Stone (R L Moore) 4-1 Jt Fav
13 ran
Non Runner: 5

Wolferton Listed Stakes (5.35pm)

And they’re off ... Victory Chime and Solid Stone with Forest Of Dean all prominent ... Euchen Glen is last ... Juan Elcano well back ... Victory Chime leads on the final turn ... Palavecino and Patrick Sarsfield come fast with Juan Elcano making a late swoop to win and nab the prize.

Updated

Will the taps get turned on at Ascot tonight?

Wolferton Listed Stakes (5.35pm) betting

  • Patrick Sarsfield - 4/1
  • Solid Stone - 9/2
  • Forest Of Dean - 6/1
  • Felix - 6/1
  • Blue Cup - 15/2
  • Dawaam - 18/1
  • Fox Tal - 20/1
  • Palavecino - 20/1
  • Juan Elcano - 25/1
  • Father Of Jazz - 25/1
  • Euchen Glen - 28/1
  • Victory Chime - 29/1
  • Volcanic Sky - 40/1
  • Full bertting via Oddschecker here

Wolferton Listed Stakes (5.35pm) preview

An open renewal of this Listed contest for older horses over a mile-and-a-quarter, with a mix of solid performers at Pattern level and a scattering of horses dipping their toe in Listed company after graduating from handicapping. Blue Cup, who was due a win after some luckless runs when he ran away with a handicap at the Derby meeting earlier this month, is in the latter category along with Dawaam, while the Group-company regulars include Patrick Sarsfield, Solid Stone and the Winter Derby winner, Forest Of Dean. Marco Botti’s runner Felix will also attract plenty of support, having run third at Group One level at Meydan’s World Cup meeting in March. Solid Stone looks like Sir Michael Stoute’s best chance today to add to his record-breaking haul of 81 winners at the Royal meeting, and hold off what is likely to be Aidan O’Brien’s inevitable ascent to the summit (he’s on 74) for a little longer.

Selection: SOLID STONE

Ascot Stakes (5pm) result

1 Reshoun (W Buick) 66-1
2 M C Muldoon (R L Moore) 11-2
3 Elysian Flame (B A Curtis) 16-1
4 Golden Rules (L Dettori) 12-1
19 ran
Also: 5-2 Fav Cape Gentleman

Reshoun (left) and William Buick just beat M C Muldoon and Ryn Moore in a photo finish.
Reshoun (left) and William Buick just beat M C Muldoon and Ryn Moore in a photo finish. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

Ascot Stakes (5pm)

They’re off ... there’s a long way to go ... Reshoun makes a bid for the lead ... Golden Rules is very keen ... towards the back with only four or five behind is Cape Gentleman ... Cape Gentleman moves up a place or two as Rochester House leads with Mancini up close ... Reshoun still prominent with Lucky Deal too ... Untold Story is just behind the leaders as turn for home ... Cape Gentleman has a lot to do ... M C Muldoon is flying down the outside and goes past the line with Reshoun. A photo-finish!

Updated

An incredible punt on Cape Gentleman is taking place ... “one of the truly big Royal Ascot gambles” says Matt Chapman on ITV about the Rachael Blackmore ride who is now an astonishing 9-4 for this red-hot handicap.

Updated

Meanwhile, in the Royal Enclosure ...

Watching the racing at a quieter Royal Ascot than normal.
Watching the racing at a quieter Royal Ascot than normal. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Ascot Stakes (5pm) betting

  • Cape Gentleman - 10/3
  • M C Muldoon - 11/2
  • Just Hubert - 17/2
  • Golden Rules - 12/1
  • Untold Story - 12/1
  • Coeur de Lion - 16/1
  • Rayapour - 16/1
  • Postileo -18/1
  • Dalton Highway - 18/1
  • Rochester House - 16/1
  • Elysian Flame - 18/1
  • Royal Illusion - 22/1
  • Lostwithiel - 20/1
  • Lucky Deal -25/1
  • Solo Saxaphone - 40/1
  • Reshoun - 80/1
  • Island Brave - 100/1
  • Mancini - 125/1
  • Full betting here via Oddschecker

Ascot Stakes (5pm) preview

The Blackmore effect on a horse’s price is familiar to fans of the jumping code, but it seems to be equally potent on the Flat, as Cape Gentleman has plunged from 10-1 to 4-1 favourite for this race since the Grand National winning jockey, Rachael Blackmore, was somewhat unexpectedly booked for the ride on Monday. Several jump jockeys have switched to ride on the level in recent seasons, including Graham Lee, who won the 2004 Grand National on Amberleigh House, and Jim Crowley, the champion jockey on the Flat in 2016, who is now number one jockey to the Shadwell racing operation. It is highly unusual, though, for a current jump jockey to dip in to the summer game, as they ride at a minimum of 10 stone over jumps and most would find it impractical – if not impossible - to lose enough weight for just an occasional ride the Flat. Blackmore, though, is a natural lightweight and will probably need some lead in her saddle to weigh out at 9st 10lb later today.

Cape Gentleman has an obvious chance, having run out an easy winner of a two-mile handicap at the Curragh on his last start in this code in October 2020, but not the kind of chance that his current, Blackmore-d price would suggest, not least when another star of the winter game, Willie Mullins, sends three runners – M C Muldoon, Rayapour and Royal Illusion - in search of his fifth win in this race in the last 10 years. Alan King’s Coeur De Lion is also hard to rule out as he seems to come alive when faced with this unique test – he has been sixth, fifth and first over the last three seasons – and while he’s on the drift this morning, I still fancy Elysian Flame to go well for Mick and David Easterby. He lost his chance with a slow start at Chester last time but was doing all his best work at the finish and has a real shout on the form of his comeback win at Newbury in April.

Selection: ELYSIAN FLAME

Palace Pier v Poetic Flare is going to be some contest if they clash at Goodwood in the Sussex Stakes

St James's Palace Stakes (4.20pm) result

1 Poetic Flare (K J Manning) 7-2 Fav
2 Lucky Vega (S Foley) 4-1
3 Battleground (R L Moore) 11-1
13 ran
Also: 12-1 Maximal 4th

St James's Palace Stakes (4.20pm)

They’re off ... Naamoos and Ontario well away with Wembley at the back ... Battleground is very keen ... Highland Avenue now at the back and Ontario skips clear by five lenghts ... La Barrosa and Poetic Flare goes for it and has shot clear ... Poetic Flare wins with ease.

Kevin Manning on Poetic Flare.
Kevin Manning on Poetic Flare. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

Here’s trainer Roger Teal explaining why Oxted is called Fenton ...

Updated

Great interview on ITV with trainer Roger Teal after winning that race ... Oxted is known as Fenton at home he explains ... any excuse to watch this:

Updated

Cieren Fallon enjoyed his win on Oxted!

St James's Palace Stakes (4.20pm) betting

  • Poetic Flare – 4/1
  • Chindit – 6/1
  • Lucky Vega – 6/1
  • Battleground – 8/1
  • Highland Avenue – 8/1
  • Mostahdaf – 8/1
  • Thunder Moon – 11/1
  • La Barrosa – 20/1
  • Naamoos – 25/1
  • Maximal – 28/1
  • Wembley - 33/1
  • Bullace – 50/1
  • Ontario – 125/1
  • Full betting here via Oddschecker

St James's Palace Stakes (4.20pm) preview

This has long promised to be one fo the most open renewals of the opening day’s feature event for many years, and if the eventual favourite goes off at 3-1 or bigger, it will be the longest-priced market leader for this race since Noverre was beaten as the 9-2 favourite in 2001.

Currently, the market leader is Poetic Flare, the 2,000 Guineas winner, at a top price of 4-1, but there has been a huge move this morning for Richard Hannon’s Chindit, who has a distinct liking for fast ground, down to a top price of 6-1 from 9-1 overnight. Chindit was four lengths behind Poetic Flare in the Guineas but was never really where his jockey, Pat Dobbs, would have wanted him to be and was doing all his best work at the finish.

Lucky Vega was much closer to the winner at Newmarket – beaten around half a length, in fact – but is now a bigger price than Chindit with most bookies, while Battleground – who was beaten out of sight in the Classic while looking ill at ease on the undulating track – is also popular to reverse the Newmarket form at around 13-2.

Two colts that bypassed the Classics are also in the mix in an exceptionally competitive Group One, with Highland Avenue and the unbeaten Mostahdaf both priced up at around 8-1 after finishing second and first respectively in the Heron Stakes last time.

Personal preference is for Lucky Vega at around 7-1 to get a second Group One win on his cv before heading straight off to start a new career as a stallion in Australia, but this really is a race where all but a couple of the runners go to post with a realistic winning chance.

Selection: LUCKY VEGA

King's Stand Stakes (3.40pm) result

1 Oxted (Cieren Fallon) 4-1
2 Arecibo (J P Spencer) 28-1
3 Extravagant Kid (L Dettori) 18-1
16 ran
Also: 11-8 Fav Battaash 4th

King's Stand Stakes (3.40pm)

And they’re off ... Winter Power is fast out with Ornate and Battaah is fifth early ... Winter Power and Battash lead but Oxted comes through to take it up and win.

Cieren Fallon on board Oxted winning the third race.
Cieren Fallon on board Oxted winning the third race. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

Rachael Blackmore is prepping for her ride on the big gamble of the day, Cape Gentleman, in the Ascot Stakes at 5pm.

Rachael Blackmore walks the course at Royal Ascot.
Rachael Blackmore walks the course at Royal Ascot. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters

Got a feeling Battaash could be vulnerable in the King’s Stand - has a poor record in big fields when he gets taken on in the early stages - but he’s being well backed ...

King's Stand Stakes (3.40pm) betting

  • Battaash – 13/8
  • Winter Power – 15/2
  • Oxted – 8/1
  • Extravagant Kid – 11/1
  • Liberty Beach – 14/1
  • Kings Lynn – 14/1
  • Que Amoro – 22/1
  • Keep Busy – 22/1
  • Stone of Destiny – 25/1
  • Maven – 28/1
  • Arecibo – 33/1
  • Ubettabelieveit – 50/1
  • Acklam Express – 50/1
  • Harrys Bar – 100/1
  • Ornate – 250/1
  • Glamourous Anna – 350/1
  • Full betting here at Oddschecker

King's Stand Stakes (3.40pm) preview

Here come the speedballs over the straight five furlongs, with last year’s winner, Battaash, leading the charge, in the betting at least. There was some 9-4 available about one of the best sprinters of recent years on Monday afternoon but he has ridden a surge of market confidence down to a top-price of 7-4 this morning, with punters clearly believing he will be race-ready after an interrupted preparation. At his best, Battaash does not give his rivals so much as the sniff of a chance to lay a glove on him, generally hitting the front by halfway at the latest and then exploding clear through the final quarter-mile. Everything needs to be in perfect working order to produce such overwhelming power, however, and having had surgery for a minor fracture to a joint over the winter, Battaash’s 100 per cent readiness for Group One action can only be taken on trust.

He faces a couple of very interesting new opponents this afternoon too, including Winter Power, a three-year-old filly who gets a total of 10lb from the favourite in sex and age allowances, and Frankie Dettori’s mount, Extravagant Kid, from Brendan Walsh’s stable in the US. I’m going with Winter Power, who was deeply impressive at York last month when she also stopped the clock in a very decent time, but Extravagant Kid has more than just his jockey to recommend him, having won a Group One sprint at Meydan in March a few months after a close fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland. Oxted, last season’s July Cup winner, will also be having his first crack at Battaash, while the Queen’s King’s Lynn, a Listed-race winner at Haydock 17 days ago, has also been nibbled in the market this morning.

Selection: WINTER POWER

Coventry Stakes (3.05pm) result

1 Berkshire Shadow (Oisin Murphy) 11-1
2 Eldrickjones (D Tudhope) 66-1
3 Vintage Clarets (P Hanagan) 25-1
17 ran

Coventry Stakes (3.05pm)

And they’re off ... Speedy Kaufymaker leads as expected ... The Organiser and Gisburn are up with the leaders ... Vintage Clarets is in with a chance and it’s wide open ... Berkshire Shadow grabs the glory at 11-1. A Guardian tip -- hats off for Greg Wood!

Oisin Murphy and Berkshire Shadow win the second race of the day.
Oisin Murphy and Berkshire Shadow win the second race of the day. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated

A re-run of the Queen Anne Stakes here ...

She will have had him in for a chat well before the racing surely!

Coventry Stakes (3.05pm) betting

  • Gisburn - 11/2
  • Dhabab - 11/2
  • The Acropolis – 7/1
  • Kaufymaker – 15/2
  • Masseto – 10/1
  • Ebro River – 12/1
  • Tolstoy – 12/1
  • Berkshire Shadow – 12/1
  • Caturra – 18/1
  • The Organiser – 22/1
  • Golden War – 28/1
  • Vintage Clarets – 28/1
  • Angel Bleu – 28/1
  • Eldrickjones – 66/1
  • Secret Strength – 66/1
  • The Gatekeeper – 150/1
  • Dashing Rat – 200/1
  • Full betting here at Oddschecker
The Duchess of Cornwall alongside the Prince of Wales in the Royal Box on day one of Royal Ascot.
The Duchess of Cornwall alongside the Prince of Wales in the Royal Box on day one of Royal Ascot. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Coventry Stakes (3.05pm) preview

Wesley Ward, the Kentucky-based trainer who has become a firm part of the Royal Ascot tradition over the last dozen years, throws a curveball into the first Group race of the season for juveniles in the shape of Kaufymaker, who was installed as favourite last week but has drifted to around 7-1 this morning. Fillies rarely run in this race in the first place, and there has not been a winner for the distaff side since 1916, so history is very much against her. Ward’s record with juveniles at the Royal meeting is impossible to overlook, however, and he suggested last week that Kaufymaker is very much to the fore of this year’s team. “If you were to line them all up, she’d be the one in front, that’s going six furlongs [the Coventry trip], I’m not sure about five,” Ward said. “Kaufymaker will be a good measure of how my horses are going to run. If she wins then we’ll be tough, and if she gets beaten, we may be outclassed.”

With Kaufymaker on the drift, the new favourite is Richard Hannon’s Gisburn, who was a hugely impressive winner of his second start at Newbury last month, at around 5-1. On his first start, however, he was only fourth behind another of today’s ppponents, Berkshire Shadow, and while he clearly improved markedly for the outing, Berkshire Shadow lost several lengths with a slow start and still won with plenty in hand. At the current odds, I’m siding with Andrew Balding’s runner at 12-1 (from 16-1 yesterday), but Dhabab, The Acropolis, Masseto and Ebro River are just four among many potential improvers in with a shout, in a race that was won by a 150-1 outsider 12 months ago.

Selection: BERKSHIRE SHADOW

The crowds are back at Royal Ascot.
The crowds are back at Royal Ascot. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters

Frankie Dettori, who has now taken over Pat Eddery’s total of Royal Ascot winners, was in fine form after his win on Palace Pier in the opener there. He’s now on 74 winners and only behind the incredible Lester Piggott (on 116!). Dettori told Matt Chapman on ITV Racing: “Wow! This is the first time [Palace Pier] has run on this sort of ground and he didn’t let himself down the way he [normally] would. On easier ground he probably has a little bit more to give.” The horse stumbled after the winning line but the jockey said: “He’s quite clumsy with his feet. He’s often losing his shoes. It was a pressure ride – you want everything to go right and it did,” the Italian concluded.

Frankie Dettori celebrates with his trademark flying dismount after Palace Pier wins the Queen Anne Stakes.
Frankie Dettori celebrates with his trademark flying dismount after Palace Pier wins the Queen Anne Stakes. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters

Updated

Queen Anne Stakes (2.30pm) result

1 Palace Pier (L Dettori) 2-7 Fav
2 Lope Y Fernandez (J A Heffernan) 12-1
3 Sir Busker (Oisin Murphy) 22-1
11 ran
Also: 28-1 Lord Glitters 4th

Queen Anne Stakes (2.30pm)

They’re off ... Pogo is leading with Palace Pier just behind ... three furlongs to go and Palace Pier is being pushed along but take the lead and move clear to win by two lengths from Lope Y Fernandez who finished well late.

Updated

Is Palace Pier about to produce something a bit special?

Someone else is missing betting on the Queen’s Hat! Should be some later in the week ...

Updated

Queen Anne Stakes (2.30pm) betting

  • Palace Pier - 4/9
  • Order of Australia -9/1
  • Lope Y Fernandes - 14/1
  • Top Rank - 18/1
  • Sir Busker - 20/1
  • Regal Reality - 22/1
  • Lord Glitters - 33/1
  • Bless Him - 40/1
  • Full betting at Oddschecker here
Racegoers arrive during day one of Royal Ascot.
Racegoers arrive during day one of Royal Ascot. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

First celebrity spot of the week ...

A masked-up Bill Bailey comes through the turnstiles at Royal Ascot.
A masked-up Bill Bailey comes through the turnstiles at Royal Ascot. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

There’s a changing of the guard on the way at Royal Ascot. The Queen is picking her days to attend this week and it’s interesting that the Duchess of Cornwall is the subject of a feature across ITV Racing’s coverage this year. She’s arrived with the Prince of Wales.

Queen Anne Stakes (2.30pm) preview

The hottest favourite of the week – unless Frankie wins the first six races of the day somewhere along the line - runs in the opening contest, as Palace Pier goes to post as the fifth odds-on favourite for the Queen Anne Stakes since the turn of the century. Two of the last four – Hawk Wing and George Washington – were beaten while more recently, Toronado and the incomparable Frankel both justified a short price.

It is always sensible to walk around an Ascot favourite like Palace Pier several times and prod it repeatedly in search of a weak spot, since the racing is at such a higher level of competitiveness, but it feels like a hopeless task where this one is concerned. He keeps producing top-drawer performances that would be more than good enough to see off today’s field, and while Order Of Australia, the Breeders’ Cup Mile winner, is a new and improving opponent, he still has several pounds at least to find with Palace Pier if the favourite is anywhere near his best form.

If odds-on shots are not your thing, Lope Y Fernandez would be my idea of the best each-way shout against him, but without any realistic hope of getting anything more than a place payout against the highest-rated horse on planet Earth.

SELECTION: Palace Pier

A racegoer poses as she attends day one of Royal Ascot.
A racegoer poses as she attends day one of Royal Ascot. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Rachael Blackmore’s unexpected booking to make a flying visit to ride at Royal Ascot on Tuesday has sparked a big gamble on Cape Gentleman, her mount in the Ascot Stakes Handicap at 5pm.

Blackmore was the first female rider to win the prize for the leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival in March, and achieved an even more historic success aboard Minella Times at Aintree a few weeks later, when she was the first woman to win the Grand National.

Emmet Mullins’s Cape Gentleman won the Irish Cesarewitch at the Curragh in October and is set to carry top weight of 9st 10lb in Tuesday’s race – well within the reach of Blackmore, who is much lighter than most of her colleagues in the National Hunt weighing room with a natural weight of around 9st.

Having been available at up to 10-1 before Blackmore was confirmed to ride, Cape Gentleman is now down to a top price of 7-2 as punters bank on his jockey maintaining her golden run. Ryan Moore is rated as the jockey most likely to frustrate her attempt to complete an unprecedented treble at three of the racing season’s showpiece meetings, on Willie Mullins’s M C Muldoon.

Where did you get that hat? Where did you get that hat?
Where did you get that hat? Where did you get that hat? Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Updated

Non-runners today:
5.35pm Wolferton Listed Stake (Listed)
No 5 Stormy Antarctic (Self Cert - Going)

TV presenter Charlotte Hawkins will be covering the fashions for ITV Racing.
TV presenter Charlotte Hawkins will be covering the fashions for ITV Racing. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

The going won’t be a constant either as rain is forecast later in the week but for now it’s going to be pretty quick out there. Chris Stickels, Ascot’s clerk of the course, reported earlier today: “The going this morning is Good to Firm, Good in places following a dry night. The track was watered yesterday, the straight course with 10mm and the round course with 4mm. We are expecting a fine, dry day today and a fine, warm, dry day again tomorrow.”

The GoingStick readings at 8.00am:
Stands side: 8.6
Centre: 8.3
Far side: 8.2
Round: 7.9

Good afternoon and welcome to Royal Ascot 2021. For the second year running the certainties we’ve come to expect are no more – and that includes for this most traditional of events. For only the second time in 69 years the Queen is set to miss the opening of the meeting. The speculation last week was that she would be at Ascot when she had runners but she’s not going to be here today, according to her racing manager, even though King’s Lynn is running in the King’s Stand Stakes.

Preamble

Good morning from Royal Ascot, where a 12,000-strong crowd is starting to converge on the Queen’s racecourse for the most famous and glamorous race meeting of the year. That’s around 30,000 fewer people than were here for the opening day two years ago, but still a huge boost to the morale of the lucky ones with tickets and racing in general after a year of racing pretty much exclusively behind closed doors.

A warm, dry day is forecast and the fans will hope – indeed, expect – to see their favourite son carve himself out another slice of Royal Ascot history in the opening race, when victory for the hot favourite Palace Pier would give Frankie Dettori his 74th winner at the meeting.

He is currently in a tie for second place with the late Pat Eddery, though still a long way adrift of Lester Piggott, whose career total of 116 Royal winners, compiled in an era when it was a four-day meeting, is so astonishing that it is still hard to believe, even when you see them all written down in the media guide.

This year’s crowd is not only much smaller than usual, it will also be comprised almost entirely of racing fans, with no-one turning up just to spend the afternoon in a hospitality marquee, or C-list celebs desperately trying to get themselves papped at the gate.

As a result, the opening day should really be the hottest ticket of the week (even though it would generally attract one of the lowest turnouts), with three Group Ones and an unusually competitive renewal of the St James’s Palace Stakes as the centrepiece of a seven-race card.

Race-by-race guides will be along here presently, but a couple of Dettori-ridden outsiders have been the ones for the money overnight, with the US-trained Extravagant Kid down to 6-1 for the King’s Stand Stakes having been a 12-1 chance and Thunder Moon, his partner in the St James’s Palace, now 8-1 from 14-1.

Dettori, unsurpringly, is also the 6-4 favourite to be the week’s leading rider, for the third year running and also the eighth time in what is now a 31-year Royal Ascot career. Ryan Moore, who already has eight Royal Ascot riding titles, all won between 2010 and 2018, is the narrow second pick at 7-4, with Jim Crowley – edged out on the final day by Dettori last year – available at 8-1. Oisin Murphy, the champion jockey, as an 11-1 shot alongside William Buick, and it is 33-1 bar the five.

It promises to be a fabulous week – if you turn a blind eye to the distinctly iffy weather forecast for Ladies’ Day on Thursday – and you can follow all the action here live as the 35 races unfold. One winner in one of the handicaps could be all you need for a successful week! Good luck finding it …

Updated

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“Clavicular Framemogging” is a viral internet slang phrase that began after influencer Clavicular appeared at an Arizona State University fashion show. A video showing him beside a larger fraternity member led users to joke that he was “framemogged.” The strange sounding phrase quickly turned into memes, proving how fast online…
The Times of India
The Times of India
Boofing: why taking illicit drugs rectally is so risky
The route a drug takes into the body can matter as much as the drug itself – and rectal use brings risks that are rarely talked about openly.
The Conversation
The Conversation
Whose Penny? Kaley Cuoco's fiancé Tom Pelphrey was clueless about The Big Bang Theory
Kaley Cuoco's fiancé Tom Pelphrey had never watched her hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory when he first met her, and he still hasn't tuned in to the nerd culture celebrating comedy series.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
I Collected 250 Anonymous Confessions About Love — Here’s What I Learned
What 1,500 strangers revealed about love behind closed doors.
Marie Claire
Marie Claire
3 Big Mistakes I’ve Made At Universal Studios' Mardi Gras I Won’t Ever Make Again
Mistakes were made though.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
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