Day Two

Day two opens with juvenile fillies taking centre stage in the Queen Mary. This five furlong contest was the race that saw both Acapulco and Lady Aurelia introduced to Royal Ascot by Wesley Ward, as well as Jealous Again in 2009. Ward is certainly a trainer to be noted given that his two-year-old fillies appear to be targeted at this contest from an early stage.

In stark contrast, a mile and six furlongs for the Queen’s Vase follows on the card, a race that has been dominated by Mark Johnston, Aidan O’Brien and Sir Michael Stoute in the last twenty years. A race won in 2017 by Stradivarius, who heads to the Gold Cup this time around on the Thursday of the meeting. Connections of the main protagonists this year will once more have dreams of their charges turning into cup horses in 2019.

Ballydoyle will be hoping that they have the winner of the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes in the shape of Hydrangea who heads the early market. Three of the last four editions have gone to the market leader, with both 2016 and 2017 heading back to France.

The day two feature at Royal Ascot is the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, a mile and a quarter contest that is one of the crown jewels of the week. This contest revolves around Cracksman as he continues to fly the flag for his sire Frankel. He had to fight hard to win the Coronation Stakes at Epsom when last seen but the return to the track where he produced his most impressive career performance in the Champion Stakes should see him in a better light.

The Royal Hunt Cup is one of the most competitive handicaps of the season, the straight mile in a huge field demands plenty of luck to come out on top, before the Jersey Stakes closes out the day two action. Seven furlongs ahead of the field, with plenty of Guineas form on offer as those who just failed to last the mile at Newmarket look to make amends back down in trip.