Adrian has loved racing from an early age, and regularly visits his local tracks in the west of Ireland. With a love for both UK & Irish flat and jumps racing, his favourite festival is the Galway Races and he goes there every year.
We go straight into the first of eight Group 1 races at the Royal Meeting with the Queen Anne Stakes. Run over the straight mile it has been won by the likes of Goldikova, Frankel and Solow in recent years, showing the sheer quality of this contest.
There are some key betting trends for the race that can help us to find the winner of the 2016 edition!
- 5 of the last 6 have been won by horses at 11/8 or shorter In recent years, it is a race that has become a favourites paradise including three odds on shots!
- Four and five year olds are dominant! 1976 was the last occasion a 4 or 5 year old hasn’t won the Queen Anne! Bad news if Esoterique wishes to try to go one better on her 2nd last year.
- 9 of the last 10 winners have already won over a mile or 1m1f. A massive negative for supporters of Limato
- 10 of the last 10 winners have run between 7-17 races. Endless Drama and Toormore the biggest pair who fail to make this stat.
- 9 of the last 10 winners having run within the previous 40 days – A relatively recent run is important, Arod, Amazing Maria and Ervedya all fall outside of this date range.
- 9 of the last 10 were already Group 1 winners. A negative for the likes of Time Test (if running here rather than in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes) and also for the highly rated Arod and Kodi Bear.
- Goldikova was the first filly/mare to win this race since 1971. However in the last 10 years a further 4 have made the placings out of 9 total. A solid stat for the supported of American super mare Tepin!
Trainers
- It is perhaps unsurprising that Aidan O’Brien has the best recent record with 3 winners and 3 placed horses from his last 12 runners.
- Richard Hannon has trained two winners and has had a placed horse from his last 6 representatives.
- Sir Michael Stoute may not have the greatest recent record but he won it 3 years in a row at the turn of the century meaning Convey could yet be a dark horse.
Jockeys
- It is unclear at the time of writing if Olivier Peslier will have a ride in the 2016 Queen Anne Stakes but with a winner and 3 placed horses from just 5 rides he must be given plenty of consideration.
- Ryan Moore on the other hand has a poor record in the race with just a single placed effort from his last 9 rides in the race. Given the record of Ballydoyle in the contest however it could be that he will be turning that poor record round sooner rather than later.
Read the full race preview and our expert tip for the Queen Anne Stakes here.