There are 59 racecourses in Britain, and no two are alike. They can run clockwise (right to left), counterclockwise or straight. They can be flat or undulating, uphill or downhill, and some tracks feature all of the above. “Horses for courses” is a reliable handicapping angle, and nowhere does it apply more than in the UK.
Ascot races beyond a mile go clockwise, but sprints at 5, 6, and 7 furlongs and most mile races are on a straight course with an uphill finish. Tuesday’s Royal Ascot opener is the mile Queen Anne Stakes (G1), and the third race is the 5-furlong King Charles III Stakes (G1). Each is a “Win and You’re In” for this fall’s Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. So is Wednesday’s 1¼-mile Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1), with the winners each earning a spot in the Mile (G1), Turf Sprint (G1) and Turf (G1), respectively.
For those who bet horse racing, here are a few thoughts about the three races.
Morning-line favorite Rosallion (5-2), who won last year’s St. James’s Palace Stakes (G1) at Ascot, was third last month after an 11-month break caused by a lung infection. He’s expected to “come on with a run,” English lingo for improving second time off a layoff. Quddwah (20-1), Sardinian Warrior (7-1) and Docklands (20-1) also have Ascot wins, but against far inferior competition than they’re facing here.
Right there with Rosallion is fellow multiple Group 1 winner Notable Speech (5-1), who was a nose behind him in his first start since a third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
The wild card is Carl Spackler (20-1), making his overseas debut after going 8-for-12 with seven stakes victories in the United States. He likes wet turf, with three wins in his last four tries over “good” courses, so expect his odds to be much shorter than 20-1.
Even when you don’t cash, this race is fun. Twenty-three sprinters will be blasting 5 furlongs down a straight course – a dozen or so up the middle, with separate groups to their right and left. Memorize the color of your horse’s silks or you’ll lose track of it.
The favorite is seven-time winner Believing (7-2), who will try to dethrone defending champion Asfoora. The 7-year-old, Australia-based mare beat the boys for top Irish rider Oisin Murphy, who’s back on her again.
How deep is this sprint? Starlust, the 33-1 upsetter of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, is listed at 10-1 after finishing 13th and seventh in his two ensuing races. And don’t ignore four-time winner Night Raider (7-1), trained by sprint specialist Karl Burke.
Thoroughbreds don’t come much tougher than Los Angeles, who took a Group 1 in France for master trainer Aidan O’Brien in his second career start and kept grinding out the wins. The gritty 4-year-old is 7-for-11 lifetime, including three Group 1 victories and thirds in the Epsom Derby (G1) and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1), Europe’s most prestigious races.
Los Angeles (9-4 favorite) will try to give O’Brien his second straight win in the Prince of Wales’s and fifth overall. His main threat could be Anmaat (7-2), second by a half-length to Los Angeles on May 25 in the 1 5/16-mile Tattersalls Gold Cup (G1) at the Curragh. Another to consider is the gray White Birch (8-1), fourth in that race, beaten 1¾ lengths, after encountering traffic trouble.
