Like Saratoga, Royal Ascot unveils lightly raced 2-year-olds with regal bloodlines from the best stables. On Saturday, the venerable Norfolk Stakes (G2) will showcase potential stars going 5 furlongs in the first race (9:30 a.m. ET, NBC) on the meeting’s last day.
First run in 1843 as the New Stakes, it has aged well. It was renamed in 1973 to honor the 16th Duke of Norfolk, whose pedigree dates to 1397, more than three centuries before the royal meeting began in 1711. You can’t beat Ascot for tradition.
Since 2018, the Norfolk has been a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1). None of its eight winners swept both races, although Valiant Force came close in 2023, when he ran second at Santa Anita.
American trainer Wesley Ward has 12 Royal Ascot trophies, two from the Norfolk. “I know how tough Ascot is getting each and every year,” he said. “When I started coming over, it was easier than it is now.”
The 2-year-old master is high on his filly Ez Tina (10-1 morning line) as he seeks his first Ascot victory since 2021. Ez Tina dominated her only race, going wire to wire by 4¾ lengths over Woodbine’s synthetic track. Her sire is eight-time stakes winner Golden Pal, who finished second in the 2020 Norfolk before taking the Juvenile Turf Sprint.
“She had a very impressive breeze the other day on Newmarket’s July Course,” Ward said. “That was her first time on the grass, and she’s bred for it. She’s a big filly, and being by Golden Pal and winning on Polytrack, she should relish it.”
She’ll have to overcome 20 opponents, 13 of whom already have won on turf, and any of them could be a star of the future. Aidan O’Brien sends out the 2-1 morning-line favorite, Carry The Flag, who’s 1-for-3. His last race points him out, because he finished second by only 1¼ lengths to his stablemate Great Barrier Reef, who improved to 3-for-3 Tuesday in Ascot’s Coventry Stakes (G2).
“Coming back from six furlongs to five shouldn’t be a problem for Carry The Flag,” O’Brien said. “[Jockey] Wayne Lordan said the horse will be very happy going back to five.”
O’Brien, the world’s No. 1 trainer, won last year’s Norfolk with Charles Darwin. It was his fourth victory in the race, tying him for the all-time lead with three trainers from the 19th century and one from early in the 20th.
The 4-1 second choice is Orthodox, who justified his 3-5 odds with a 2½-length win in his 5-furlong debut at Salisbury. “He has bags of speed,” said trainer Clive Cox, who changed his mind about skipping Royal Ascot. “He will learn enormously from his first race.”
The others in the huge field are all 6-1 or more, including O’Brien’s New Yorker (30-1) and Ward’s pair of Fanshell Beach and Through The Years, both 20-1. Hall of Famer John Velazquez won on both but opted for Through The Years.
Australian superstar James McDonald picked up the mount on Fanshell Beach. She won her only race by 5¼ lengths going 4½ furlongs on Churchill Downs' main track. Ward is upbeat that she can handle turf.
“She had a really nice breeze on the grass at Keeneland and repeated that at Newmarket.”
Through The Years set a 5½-furlong track record on Aqueduct's turf course in her second start. In her debut, she lost by a nose on the grass at Keeneland. “She’s a very high-quality filly by No Nay Never.”
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
