With the Guineas Festival, headlined by the first two British Classics of the season (1000 and 2000 Guineas), recently taking the place at Newmarket, the 2022 flat racing campaign is now officially well underway.
It’s certainly an exciting time for fans of the flat, with the Derby Festival at Epsom Downs — featuring two more Classics (the Oaks and the Derby itself) — around a month away, while the prestigious Royal Ascot will follow just two weeks later.
Running for five fantastic days (14th-18th June), the meeting is one of the most iconic on the calendar — with racegoers donning their glad rags trackside. Royal Ascot also plays host to eight Group 1s, the biggest of which is, of course, the Gold Cup.
There will be plenty of competition in the Royal Ascot betting for the two-mile, three-furlongs outing, with some of the best horses in the sport heading to Berkshire for the marathon trip. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the early favourite.
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Trueshan
The outright favourite, Hollie Doyle will be out to make history in the saddle of the Alan King-trained Trueshan. With Rachael Blackmore becoming the first female rider to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup back in March, it would be a monumental moment for racing should Doyle break the boundaries next month — becoming the first woman to win the Ascot Gold Cup in the same year.
Trueshan didn’t get off to the best of starts last year, failing to win his first two outings. But the now six-year-old soon kicked into gear, winning two successive Group 1s — the Goodwood Cup, the Prix du Cadran in Longchamp and rounding off the campaign with the Long Distance Cup.
There has been no slow start from King’s horse this year, as he won a Listed race at Nottingham on reappearance and he could head to York for the Group 2 Paddy Power Yorkshire Cup later this month in a preparation bid for the Gold Cup.
Stradivarius
Fan favourite Stradivarius headed to Ascot with his sights set on making history last season. Hoping to match Yeats’ impressive record of four successive Gold Cup victories (2006-09), the John and Thady Gosden-trained legend could fare no better than fourth as Subjectivist landed handler Mark Johnson his first Gold Cup win since 2002.
To the delight of his huge following, Stradivarius did roll back the years later in the season — beating Spanish Mission by a head to win the Lonsdale Cup before a more comfortable victory in the Doncaster Cup. But Trueshan proved too much to handle in Paris for the Prix du Cadran and back at Ascot for the Long Distance Cup.
Now eight years of age, it’s amazing that Stradivarius is even making a return to the track this year. But his connections are certainly upbeat, and it looks like he will reappear at the Paddy Power Yorkshire Cup!
Kyprios
Kyprios might not be as experienced as his aforementioned Gold Cup counterparts, with just five races under rules, but you can never rule out an O’Brien-trained horse.
The four-year-old has been somewhat of a mixed bag thus far in his career though, with a Maiden victory on debut in Galway in September 2020 followed up by finishing third last in the Group 3 Zetland Stakes at Newmarket.
With another disappointing finish towards the back of the field in last year’s Derby Trails coming after his second win in Ireland, before being forced to withdraw from the Group 2 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot due to becoming upset in the stalls, you just never know what to expect from this horse.
He has kicked this season off with a win though, recently beating his full-sister Search For A Song in a Listed Race at Navan, and O’Brien will be hoping he’s a tad more settled this year.
The Group 3 Saval Beg at Leopardstown later this month could be the deciding factor on whether or not he heads back to Ascot for the Gold Cup.
