Dawn Approach vs Magician could set Royal Ascot alight on Tuesday!

Can Magician get the better of fellow Irish raider, Dawn Approach, in Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes? Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

As long as he works well tomorrow morning, Dawn Approach is on course for a clash with Magician in the St James’s Palace Stakes, the feature race on day one of Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

After his desperate Investec Derby flop, his trainer, Jim Bolger, ruled out Royal Ascot saying it would come too soon.

A change of heart has occured, however, just as it did with Dawn Approach’s sire, New Approach.

Bolger ruled him out of the Investec Derby in 2008, only to change his mind late on. Like father, like son…

It will make for a truly sensational opening day to the Royal Meeting, with USA star Animal Kingdom set to light up the opening race, the Queen Anne Stakes, for which 15 horses remain engaged, and crack South African sprinter Shea Shea in race two, the King’s Stand Stakes, for which 21 horses have stood their ground.

That will set it all up for race three and a mouthwatering showdown between arguably the best two colts in Ireland, the winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas, Magician, trained by Aidan O’Brien, and the winner of the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, Dawn Approach.

Add in the Richard Hannon-trained Toronado, who had excuses when only fourth in the QIPCO Guineas and whose connections are sure he will fare much better this time, and the race of the meeting is on the cards wiith 14 runners left in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

One sad note is the defection of Snow Fairy from Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes after a minor setback.