NEWS
Stars come out for Royal Ascot opener
Posted: Monday, June 13, 2011 2:30 PM
GOLDIKOVA
PhotosByZ.com/Thoroughbred Times
by Tim Nichols
Opening day of the 300th Royal Ascot meet on Tuesday features an opening race worthy of a celebration.
Two-time European champion Goldikova (Ire) will try for her 14th career Group/Grade 1 victory as she faces such stars as multiple Group 1 winners Canford Cliffs and Cape Blanco in the meet’s opening race, the Queen Anne Stakes (Eng-G1), one of three Group 1 races on Tueday's card.
The three Group 1 races are all part of the QIPCO British Champions’ Series.
Goldikova, the two-time reigning champion older female in the U.S. and the 2010 European champion older female, opened her six-year-old campaign on May 22 with a second consecutive victory in the Prix d’Ispahan (Fr-G1) at Longchamp.
Last year, the Anabaa mare used a win in the Prix d’Ispahan as a springboard to victory in the Queen Anne, which she captured by a neck over Paco Boy (Ire).
Among the six facing Goldikova include Canford Cliffs, who won the St. James’s Palace Stakes (Eng-G1) at last year’s royal meeting. The four-time Group 1 winner also started the season with a win at the highest level, taking the JLT Lockinge Stakes (Eng-G1) at Newbury on May 14 for trainer Richard Hannon.
Cape Blanco, himself a two-time Group 1 winner, seeks to snap a three-race winless skid dating back to last September in the Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes (Ire-G1) for trainer Aidan O’Brien. He enters off a fourth-place finish in the Prix Ganay-Prix Air Mauritius (Fr-G1) on April 30 at Longchamp.
Rio de La Plata, a Group 1 winner in France and Italy, will race in Godolphin blue under Frankie Dettori in the Queen Anne. She most recently finished third in the Investec Diomed Stakes (Eng-G3) on June 4 at Epsom Downs, her first start wince winning the GBI Racing Premio Roma (Ity-G1) last November.
The King’s Stand Stakes (Eng-G1) should not lack for intrigue on Tuesday as a stacked field of 19 will go to post.
Among those in the field is Eugene Melnyk’s homebred, Bridgetown, who ships to Royal Ascot for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher.
The Speightstown colt has six career victories on turf, including the 2009 Summer Stakes (Can-G3), and finished second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G2). She has two wins from three starts this season, most recently finishing second in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes (G3) on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) undercard.
Bridgetown also owns a win on yielding turf, which shows he may be able to handle softer going should the course be rated as good-to-soft after heavy rains earlier in the week.
Two-time Group 1 winner Kingsgate Native enters off a runner-up finish to King’s Stand entrant Sole Power in the Betfred.com Temple Stakes (Eng-G2) on May 21 at Haydock.
Also entered is the mercurial “Budapest Bullet,” also known as Overdose. A folk hero in Hungary, Overdose won 14 straight races before hoof issues sidelined his career. He will make his much anticipated Royal Ascot debut off a seventh-place effort in the Temple Stakes.
Unbeaten Frankel, one of the world’s most talked-about horses, will try to improve to seven wins from as many career starts in the St. James’s Palace Stakes (Eng-G1).
The Juddmonte Farms homebred, named for the late Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, brilliantly opened his three-year-old season with a four-length win in the Totesport.com Greenham Stakes (Eng-G1) and a six-length tour de force victory in the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1).
Among those looking to hand Frankel his first defeat are Guineas runner-up Dubawi Gold, Greenham runner-up Excelebration, and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-Grand Criterium (Fr-G1) winner Wootton Bassett.
For Tuesday's Royal Ascot card, click here.
Tim Nichols is internet content editor for Thoroughbred Times
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: animal kingdom lover, horseland, IL on June 13, 2011 at 08:02 PM
I LOVE YOU GOLDIKOVA!!
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Posted by: KautoStar, Cambridge, UK, NB on June 13, 2011 at 05:23 PM
And it's not 'two time reigning champion older female in Europe'. There is no such category at the Cartier Awards. It's two time champion older horse, male or female.
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Posted by: Nicole, Thunder Bay, ON on June 13, 2011 at 04:33 PM
"Goldikova, the two-time reigning champion older female in the U.S."
Something wrong about that statement. She was champion female turf, not older female - that was Zenyatta.
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