Love is all you need
The second day was lit up by quality with Love putting up a superbly gritty display in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, one that suggests she’s going to be at the top table for all the major middle-distance events this summer and beyond. There’s no doubt she will improve for this and we have not seen the best of her by a long way. It might be the same for the remarkable Aidan O’Brien outfit after the trainer equalled Henry Cecil’s record of winners with Love’s victory.
There were some proper eyecatchers in Astro King and Kaboo for those of you who want to follow less-exposed types and we ended the day with a win for Laura Pearson (a name to keep a very close watch out for) and some proper controversy with Stunning Beauty deemed a non-runner in the last with the jockey screaming “wait” to the starter and the horse still with her hood on so she couldn’t see. That one will run and run. Frankie Dettori won on Indie Angel to set himself up for the Gold Cup on Thursday and the chance to equal Yeats’s history-making fourth win in a row in the famous race. Two excellent days and to continue the theme we almost certainly haven’t seen the best yet. I note that the Queen has a runner tomorrow and it would be no surprise to see her back on the track for what is potentially one of the great Ascot moments of recent years.
Updated
Bookies refunding bets on Stunning Beauty
Silvestre De Sousa was left fuming after the final race of the day at Royal Ascot after his mount Stunning Beauty was left in the stalls with her hood on and effectively lost all chance at the start.
De Sousa could be clearly heard in the stalls on replays shown on ITV shouting “wait” to the starter who proceeded to let the runners go. The stewards launched an inquiry into the incident and deemed the filly “to have started” but the jockey, on returning to the weighing room, told presenter Rishi Persad: “I’m angry. I was telling the starter to wait.”
Ladrokes, William Hill and Coral were reported on ITV to be refunding bets on Stunning Beauty who went off the 7-1 third favourite.
Updated
Kensington Palace Handicap (6.10pm) result
1 Lola Showgirl (Laura Pearson) 12-1
2 Ffion (R Kingscote) 10-1
3 Waliyak (David Egan) 9-1
4 Declared Interest (Rob Hornby) 11-1
18 ran
Also: 4-1 Fav Dreamloper
Updated
Kensington Palace Handicap (6.10pm)
And they’re off ... Stunning Beauty had the blindfold left on and is tailed off ast the start ... Lola Showgirl leads with Angel Of The Glen challenging ... Lola Showgirl led the whole way and what a day for the Guardian - the nap winner - and for Laura Pearson who has ridden her first win at Royal Ascot.
#RoyalAscot success for Laura Pearson in the inaugural Kensington Palace Handicap Stakes.
— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) June 16, 2021
Lola Showgirl leads home a David Loughnane 1-2. pic.twitter.com/vR3J8mG2Me
Updated
Kensington Palace Handicap (6.10pm) betting
- Dreamloper – 4/1
- Stunning Beauty - 7:1
- Lights On – 8/1
- Ffion – 8/1
- Waliyak – 12/1
- Mostly - 14/1
- Lola Showgirl – 14/1
- So I Told You – 14/1
- Declared Interest – 14/1
- Caspian Queen – 18/1
- Dalanjujo – 25/1
- Apricot Moon – 25/1
- Bar – 33/1
Kensington Palace Handicap (6.10pm) preview
Plenty in with chances in Wednesday’s finale but Lola Showgirl could be worth an interest at around 12-1 to give David Loughnane his first Royal Ascot winner. The trainer also runs Ffion, priced up at around 7-1, but her best form is on heavy ground while Lola Showgirl was a winner on good-to-firm last season. She also returned from a nine-month break with a battling success in an amateurs’ race at York in May, posting a strong time as she did so, and has proven stamina over today’s extra furlong. Dangers, inevitably, abound, with Dreamloper well backed to go one better than his close second behind Lights On – an 8-1 shot for this race – at Ascot last time, while Stunning Beauty is also attracting support to give Saeed bin Suroor his first winner at this meeting since 2017.
Selection: LOLA SHOWGIRL
Don’t forget the name Kaboo ... ran an excellent race in the unfavoured centre
Kaboo is the best horse in that race
— James (@jamesaknight) June 16, 2021
Windsor Castle Stakes (5,35pm) result
1 Chipotle (Charles Bishop) 22-1
2 Dig Two (James Doyle) 7-1
3 Boonie (A Kirby) 18-1
27 ran
Also: 3-1 Fav Ruthin
Non Runner: 24
Updated
Windsor Castle Stakes (5,35pm)
And they’re off ... Freyabella is fast away ... Ruthin going well ... Kaboo with a run ... Ruthin and Chipotle now with the latter getting home on the far side.
Updated
The big gamble looks “relaxed, cool, calm and collected” according to Jason Weaver on ITV. Francesca Cumani says: “I don’t know the meaning of Kaboo”. I’ve done some investigative journalism ... and apparently Kaboo means ‘neighbourhood’ - according to the Urban Dictionary at least ...
Updated
it’s now Kaboo time ...
Kaboo is now best-priced 9-1 🤯
— Racing Post (@RacingPost) June 16, 2021
He was 100-1 on Tuesday... 😳
Windsor Castle Stakes (5.35pm) betting
- Ruthin – 3/1
- Dig Two – 13/2
- Kaboo – 7/1
- Armor – 12/1
- Golden Bell – 11/1
- Amalfi Coast – 18/1
- Flaming Rib – 18/1
- Emies Valentine – 18/1
- Spring is Sprung – 20/1
- Bar – 25/1
- Full betting here via Oddschecker
Windsor Castle Stakes (5.35pm) preview
Another Wesley Ward-trained favourite here in Ruthin, a six-length winner at Keeneland on her only start to date, though her price could veer in either direction beforehand depending on how Ward’s runner in the Queen Mary gets on. There is also an intriguing gamble developing on Karl Burke’s Kaboo, an unraced colt by More Than Ready who was priced up at 66-1 after the final declarations a couple of days ago but is down to around 8-1 now.
The Windsor Castle is one of the lesser events on the Royal meeting’s schedule but it would be some achievement to win it on debut, and I’ll row in instead with Dig Two, who won over six furlongs last time but showed plenty of speed to register an easy success over five at Newmarket’s Guineas meeting.
Selection: Dig Two
Royal Hunt Cup (5pm) result
1 Real World (Marco Ghiani) 18-1
2 Astro King (R L Moore) 11-2 Fav
3 Grove Ferry (David Probert) 12-1
4 Ouzo (S M Levey) 33-1
30 ran
Royal Hunt Cup (5pm)
And they’re off ... Eastern World and Bell Rock are prominent ... Teston and Maydanny are with the leaders ... Ouzo has a good spot on the rail ... Magical Morniing makes a challenge ... Astro King and Real World hit the front but Real World wins by some way from Astro King.
Updated
Ouzo’s running in the Hunt Cup next. That name rings a bell ...
Royal Hunt Cup (5pm) betting
- Astro King – 11/2
- Matthew Flinders – 17/2
- Haqeegy – 17/2
- Brunch – 9/1
- Magical Morning – 12/1
- Finest Sound – 14/1
- Grove Ferry – 14/1
- Irish Admiral – 14/1
- Maydanny – 18/1
- Eastern World – 25/1
- Layfayette – 25/1
- Bar – 28/1
- Full betting here via Oddschecker
Royal Hunt Cup (5pm) preview
Four-year-olds have made up 43 per cent of the fields for the last 14 runnings of this famous handicap, and supplied 10 of the winners (71pc), which suggests that the typical profile of a modern Hunt Cup winner is a horse in the relatively early stages of its handicapping career rather than a grizzled veteran with dozens of outings on his or her cv. That does not rule out many of the fancied runners today, however, as 11 of the first 13 names in the betting are four-year-olds, most of which have fewer than 10 runs to their name.
There looks to be plenty of pace drawn high, however, and the stands’ side has tended to be favoured in recent races over the straight mile in any case, which means that Teston, an obvious candidate to make the running from stall 17, is likely to head in that direction. That does narrow it down a little, with Grove Ferry (in 30), Magical Morning (26), Astro King (27), Layfayette (22) and Haqeeqy (21) all going to post with the right kind of profile. Of those, Astro King makes most appeal, as he has just six runs behind him, has progressed with every run so far and also has form at 10 furlongs, suggesting that a strongly-run mile on a stiff track like Ascot could be ideal.
Selection: ASTRO KING
Love is all you need!
"It's only about her, she's a high-class filly"
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) June 16, 2021
Ryan Moore gives all credit to Love after winning the Prince of Wales's Stakes
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📺 @ITV
📱 https://t.co/fJXuj4d6h6#ITVRacing #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/jQYze6u25N
Prince Of Wales's Stakes (4.20pm) result
Royal Ascot 4.20
1 Love (R L Moore) 11-10 Fav
2 Audarya (W Buick) 10-1
3 Armory (J A Heffernan) 5-2
6 ran
Also: 17-2 My Oberon 4th
Non Runner: 3
Prince Of Wales's Stakes (4.20pm)
And they’re off ... Love has the lead with My Oberon sharing second with Sangarius ... Audarya and Armory behind those and Desert Encounter last ... Love leads them on the turn for home and she is asked to go clear ... she’s fighting hard with Audarya challenging ... but Love finds more and she holds on for Ryan Moore.
Updated
Why didn’t all the jockeys head for the stands’ rail there?
“What tactics are some of the jockeys going out with @skysportsAlexH?! I don’t get it…” - @sebsanders1 is in disbelief more jockeys aren’t coming up @Ascot’s stands rail… pic.twitter.com/xwN5t4P5nA
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 16, 2021
Prince Of Wales's Stakes (4.20pm) betting
- Love – 5/4
- Armory – 9/4
- Audarya - 8/1
- My Oberon – 12/1
- Sangarius - 11/1
- Desert Encounter – 22/1
- Full betting here via Oddschecker
Prince Of Wales's Stakes (4.20pm) preview
Love was always likely to set off as the favourite for the day’s feature race, even before Lord North, last year’s winner, was withdrawn due to the fast ground, and she could be the second odds-on shot of the week now that she has seemingly been left with Armory, the Ballydoyle second-string on jockey bookings, to beat. It has rarely been that simple for the O’Brien team in recent months, however, and Ryan Moore has already watched on from a respectable distance this year as Snowfall, Empress Josephine and Mother Earth have won Classics for the stable with someone else in the saddle.
Nor would it be fair to rule out Audarya, as any suggestion that James Fanshawe’s mare saved her best form for easy ground was scotched when she landed the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf last November on turf that was every bit as firm, if not firmer, than today’s. My hunch was that Armory’s recent outing at Chester might give him a slight edge in fitness over Love, who is returning after a 300-day break since her win in the Yorkshire Oaks last August, while his best form – when third in the Irish Champion Stakes last year and the second in the Cox Plate in Australia – gives him less to find with the filly than the betting might suggests. But it’s only a hunch.
Selection: ARMORY
Frankie Dettori grabs his 75th winner at Royal Ascot on Indie Angel after he went down the ‘golden highway’ on the stands side rail. “Everything fell right today - she likes fast ground, cover and plenty of room,” he told ITV Racing. Looking ahead to his attempt to win the Gold Cup on Thursday for the fourth time running, the jockey said: “This time tomorrow I will be pretty nervous and waiting for the gig one. I am up for it! Stradivarius is up for it! It’s a horse race and anything can happen but we’ll give it our best.”
Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (3.40pm) result
1 Indie Angel (L Dettori) 22-1
2 Lady Bowthorpe (K Shoemark) 7-2
3 Queen Power (S De Sousa) 11-4 Fav
12 ran
Also: 10-1 Champers Elysees 4th
Non Runner: 5
That man @FrankieDettori all by himself! @CPStudOfficial's Indie Angel wins the Duke of Cambridge Stakes for John and Thady Gosden! @Ascot#RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/vilqitFmIy
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 16, 2021
Updated
Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (3.40pm)
And they’re off ... Parent’s Prayer and Posted lead with favourite Lady Bowthorpe in midfield ... Agincourt slowly away ... Valeria Messalina is behind the leaders ... Queen Power under pressure... Lady Bowthorpe makes a challenge ... Indie Angel challenging to take the race under Frankie Dettori.
Updated
Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (3.40pm) betting
- Lady Bowthorpe – 10/3
- Queen Power – 9/2
- Double or Bubble – 6/1
- Champers Elysees – 8/1
- Parents Prayer – 9/1
- Lavenders Blue – 12/1
- Onassis – 14/1
- Agincourt – 16/1
- Indie Angel – 20/1
- Bar – 33/1
- Full betting here via Oddschecker
Updated
Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (3.40pm) preview
A dozen fillies and mares go to post for this Group Two over the straight mile – Bounce The Blues is a non-runner on account of the ground – but two stand out on form: Lady Bowthorpe and Queen Power. The former was one-and-a-half lengths behind Palace Pier, yesterday’s Queen Anne winner, in the Group One Lockinge Stakes in May and has attracted plenty of backing for this race ever since, though it was soft ground at Newbury and the unexpectedly fast going seems to be behind a slight easing in her price this morning. It was good-to-firm when she won the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in early May, however, and her overall form gives her a very similar chance to Queen Power, who pulverised her field in the Middleton Stakes at York last time but is dropping back in trip today.
She finished around three lengths behind Nazeef in this race last year after getting a little outpaced a furlong out, and her backers will hope that Silvestre De Sousa can put that experience to good use. Double Or Bubble has won her last three races but all were handicaps and she is taking a big step up in class here, while Champers Elysees won the Group One Matron Stakes last season – giving former top jockey Johnny Murtagh his first win at the highest level as a trainer – but gives weight to all her rivals as a result and has been well below that form on both her starts this year.
Selection: QUEEN POWER
Queen's Vase (3.05pm) result
1 Kemari (W Buick) 15-2
2 Wordsworth (R L Moore) 10-3 Fav
3 Stowell (L Dettori) 12-1
13 ran
Also: 25-1 Benaud 4th
Non Runner: 15
Withdrawn: 7
Queen's Vase (3.05pm)
And they’re off ... Kyprios didn’t start ... Law Of The Sea takes the early lead ... Kemari and Wordsworth are just behind the leader ... Golden Flame moves up to second with Recovery Run also making a move into third spot ... Kemari nudged along ... Benaud the back marker as they turn for home ... Kemari mounts a challenge ... and kicks clear for a comfortable win.
Updated
The result of the first race, stall 22 beats stall 20, is more evidence that the high numbers have an advantage and punters will be making a note with the Royal Hunt Cup in mind at 5pm
Seb Sanders reflects on the importance of a high draw after Quick Suzy's win in the Queen Mary Stakes. pic.twitter.com/8QKwCd3ry3
— Sky Sports Racing (@SkySportsRacing) June 16, 2021
Might be somewhat crowded on that near rail just after 5pm
— chris cook (@claimsfive) June 16, 2021
Updated
Queen's Vase (3.05pm) betting
- Wordsworth – 10/3
- Dancing King – 13/2
- Kemari – 13/2
- Stowell – 8/1
- Taipan – 10/1
- Kyprios – 11/1
- Arturo Tosanini – 12/1
- Ruling – 12/1
- Law of the Sea – 16/1
- Benaud – 18/1
- Recovery Run – 28/1
- Bar – 33/1
- Full betting here via Oddschecker
Updated
Queen's Vase (3.05pm) preview
The decision to cut two furlongs from the traditional two-mile trip for this race from 2017 has made it less of a test for the horses but no less of a challenge for backers, as the step up to a mile-and-three-quarters at this relatively early stage of the campaign has the potential to coax untold amounts of improvement from many of the runners and prove a step too far for the rest. But it has done wonders for the quality of the horses taking part, with three of the four winners since 2017 – Stradivarius, Kew Gardens and Santiago – going on to win a Group One on their next outing.
Whether there is a future Group One winner lurking in today’s field remains to be seen but there is certainly a great deal of untapped potential in colts like Wordsworth, Stowell and Kemari, and while Dancing King, who started his season running off 73 in a handicap, is much more exposed, he will be a useful yardstick. As far as picking the winner goes, trend-followers will note that Aidan O’Brien (Wordsworth, Kyprios, Arturo Toscanini) and Mark Johnston (Dancing King) have won this race 14 times since the turn of the century, but I’ll be swinging behind Kemari, a six-length winner in a good time at Yarmouth 19 days ago and a gelding whose pedigree is packed with stamina.
Selection: KEMARI
Updated
Queen Mary Stakes (2.30pm) result
1 Quick Suzy (G F Carroll) 8-1
2 Twilight Gleaming (John Velazquez) 9-4 Fav
3 Cheerupsleepyjean (C D Hayes) 50-1
21 ran
Also: 8-1 Artos 4th
Non Runner: 8
Updated
Queen Mary Stakes (2.30pm)
And they’re off ... Artos away with blazing speed ... Twilight Gleaming also prominent with Get Ahead ... Quick Suzy comes through and takes the measure of Twilgiht Gleaming to win for the irish.
Updated
Illustrating in the first has a lovely print on its hindquarters ... hold on ... well it is the Grauniad tip!
Unfortunate typo, in fairness. pic.twitter.com/pveNiCLgtL
— Paul Smith (@PaulSmithMkII) June 16, 2021
Updated
Queen Mary Stakes (2.30pm) betting
- Twilight Gleaming – 5/2
- Artos – 7/1
- Quick Suzy – 9/1
- Illustrating – 9/1
- Yet – 12/1
- Nymphadora – 12/1
- Desert Dreamer – 12/1
- Get Ahead – 16/1
- Mas Poder – 18/1
- Beautiful Sunshine – 22/1
- Bar – 25/1
- Full betting via Oddschecker here
Queen Mary Stakes (2.30pm) preview
“If she [Kaufymaker] wins [the Coventry], then we’ll be tough [to beat],” Wesley Ward said when assessing his squad of juveniles for the Royal meeting last week. “And if she gets beaten, we may be outclassed”. Kaufymaker was indeed beaten, into eighth place, which makes the top-price of 5-2 on offer about Ward’s runner Twilight Gleaming in this race look distinctly thin, when at least a dozen of the 20 fillies in opposition need only find a few pounds of improvement to stand a chance. That said, Kaufymaker set a very strong gallop under John Velasquez on Tuesday and still finished in front of the colts who were closest to the pace in the first half-mile, so perhaps she is a good deal better than the bare form of the race might suggest.
All in all, though, I’d rather be each-way with a runner like Illustrating (or Quick Suzy, Nymphadora or Get Ahead, for that matter) as the return will be broadly the same if they place and a great deal better if they win. Karl Burke’s filly was a narrow pick from a wealth of candidates as she was a ready winner on debut despite finding some trouble in running, and recorded a strong time in the circumstances. Frankie Dettori, meanwhile, has picked up an interesting ride here on Artos, an American-trained daughter of speed-influence Kodiac whose dam was a half-sister to a dual Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner.
Selection: ILLUSTRATING
Kaboo owner Nick Bradley now on ITV (there’s a get-out clause there): “He’s a very good horse – he may fluff his lines today but he’s class, I got four hours sleep because of him last night. I wanted eight!”
Great set of shots from yesterday ...
More on Wednesday’s gamble Kaboo in the 5.35pm race. ITV racing’s Matt Chapman reports: “I have spoken to Karl Burke [the trainer] and I said ‘Is this a fictional gamble or is it real? ... and Karl Burke said it’s real’”
66s in to 6s! 🔥 @NBradleyRacing’s Windsor Castle debutant Kaboo, is a massive market mover for today's 5.35pm at Royal @Ascot live on Sky Sports Racing
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 16, 2021
Latest odds 👇
The other non-runner today is the Queen (also absent yesterday on Royal Ascot’s opening day for the first time in her reign). Charles and Camilla arrived and the national anthem duly struck up - but only half of it was played. Yesterday’s discovery was that royal protocol dictates how much of the anthem is played according to which royals are in attendance. Charles and Camilla half then - how much for Andrew or Harry and Meghan anyone? The Telegraph also informed me that where racing is concerned Charles “likes partaking rather than watching”. No wonder he usually only spends one day at the meeting normally.
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall arrive for day two of #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/cdP7x8XE9O
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 16, 2021
Updated
Kaboo ... who? “Royal Ascot has been rocketed by a monumental gamble on day two,” stated a BestofBets.com spokesman in an email that pinged in my inbox this morning. The horse that’s on everyone’s lips is running in the Windsor Castle Stakes at 5.35pm. Yesterday’s plunge on a Rachael Blackmore mount went astray but this one promises to be as intriguing with a two-year-old colt who has never run before being backed from as big as 50-1 on Tuesday to as low as 6-1 second-favourite now.
So what’s the story behind this major market move? The owner Nick Bradley has told broadcaster Nick Luck on his daily podcast that Kaboo is “a monster” ... “he did a monster piece of work with an older horse” and he “probably should be 5-2”. No horse has won this race first time out since 1996 and it will be some coup if they can pull this off.
Omgggggggg. Kaboo now 12-1 from 66-1. Surely one of the biggest Royal @Ascot gambles we have seen for @karl_burke Yeeehaaa! 🕺🏇🏻🏇🏻🏇🏻🏇🏻🏇🏻
— Matt Chapman (@MCYeeehaaa) June 16, 2021
Updated
Going, going, gone ... here are your non-runners, all because of the fast conditions
2.30pm Queen Mary Stakes (Group 2)
8 Eve Lodge (reason: Going)
3.05pm Queen’s Vase (Group 2)
15 Zinc White (Going)
3.40pm Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (Group 2)
5 Bounce The Blues (Going)
4.20pm Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Group 1)
3 Lord North (Self Cert - Going)
5.35pm Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed)
24 Tipperary Sunset (Going)
With the weather set to break and plenty of precipitation over the next few days there is sure to be a change for ground conditions at Ascot ... meanwhile it’s fast out there ... very fast ... and officially good-to-firm going.
Chris Stickels, Ascot’s clerk of the course, said: “We put four millimetres of irrigation on the track last night. The forecast for today is a hot, dry day through racing and then we are expecting some thunderstorms building up later tonight and through tomorrow.”
Get ready for the action before the storm!
— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) June 16, 2021
Chris Stickels reports Good to Firm after the whole track was watered last night. pic.twitter.com/MieCtEHjyd
Preamble
For the second day running, the sun is beating down as spectators gather at Royal Ascot, but the hot, dry weather has not been universally welcome and Lord North, last year’s winner, has been ruled out of the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes this morning after John Gosden decided that the good-to-firm ground would not be suitable.
Chris Stickels, the clerk of the course, put 4mm of water on the track overnight, but that only ensured that the going was not firm - a description that you only tend to see these days at a track like Bath, which does not have a watering system - by the start of racing today. Even so, by 4.20, the off-time for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, the ground is likely to be as fast as it has been at the Royal meeting since at least 2008, when the Friday card was run on firm ground.
There is unlikely to be any need to water this evening, with thunderstorms expected overnight and more rain forecast for tomorrow, but it will be too late for Lord North, whose absence leaves Aidan O’Brien with a stranglehold on the feature race.
Love, who looked exceptional in winning both the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks last season, appears to face her biggest challenge from stable companion Armory, and Ryan Moore, O’Brien’s number one rider, will very much be hoping that he is on the right one from the Ballydoyle stable for a change. Moore has ridden only one of O’Brien’s last 11 Group One or Grade One winners, in Hong Kong in December 2020, and has been on a beaten runner from Ballydoyle in five of the other nine races.
But Moore is still a solid second-favourite to be the meeting’s top jockey despite drawing a blank on Tuesday, a sign of the apparent strength of O’Brien’s team throughout today’s card, while Frankie Dettori, the favourite, is an even-money shot after getting on the board in the opening race on hot favourite Palace Pier.
Love is now odds-on for the main event at around 5-6, while Wordsworth (5-2) will be another favourite for Moore in the Queen’s Vase at 3.05. Astro King is another big fancy in the Royal Hunt Cup, while Dettori’s best chance this afternoon looks to come later, on the 2-1 shot Ruthin in the Windsor Castle Stakes.
Tips for all of today’s races are here, the action is underway with the Queen Mary Stakes at 14.30 (BST) and you can follow all the action as it happens here throughout the day. Enjoy the Ascot sunshine (while it lasts)!
Updated
