Sensational racing to savour next week!

Frankel first, the rest nowhere…now the superstar colt is all set for Royal Ascot!  Image courtesy of Racingfotos.com.

Royal Ascot will start with a bang next Tuesday when Britain’s champion older miler, Canford Cliffs, takes on French superstar Goldikova in the Queen Anne Stakes, race three in the QIPCO British Champions Series Mile division.

Half an hour later, some of the world’s top speed merchants will line up in the King’s Stand Stakes, race two in the Sprint division, in which the Australians have an awesome recent record.

Half an hour after that, the mighty Frankel, unbeaten in six races and fresh from his demolition of the QIPCO 2000 Guineas field at Newmarket at the end of April, will look to take another step towards greatness in the St James’s Palace Stakes. For three-year-olds only, it is the fourth race in the Mile division.

A fascinating international perspective will be brought to the St James’s Palace Stakes, with Japan’s star three-year-old miler, Grand Prix Boss, lining up in a race that promises to give another big pointer as to how good Frankel really is.

Nowhere in the world will you find a stronger start to a race programme than these three magical races.

The remaining four days of Royal Ascot may only feature one QIPCO British Champions Series race each, but they promise no less excitement, especially on Wednesday when the Prince of Wales’s Stakes takes centre stage.

This mile-and-a-quarter contest in the Middle Distance category is set to feature the British debut of So You Think, the ex-Australian superstar now trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien, who has left a deep impression with facile victories in his first two races across the Irish Sea this spring.

They were only minor contests, but the Prince of Wales’s Stakes promises a thorough test for So You Think as it looks like he may have to take on the dual Champion Stakes winner, Twice Over, and the highly regarded Godolphin-owned Rewilding in a race to savour.

Thursday sees race two in the Long Distance division, the Gold Cup, run over the marathon distance of two-and-a-half miles.

Last year’s winner, Rite Of Passage, is strongly fancied to make it two out of two although fellow Irish challenger, Fame And Glory, will give him plenty to think about if his stamina holds out.

On Friday it’s race three in the Fillies & Mares division with the Coronation Stakes and on Saturday the sprinters take centre stage in the Golden Jubilee Stakes, when the international challenge will again be very strong.

Royal Ascot is the world’s greatest Flat race meeting and the quality of the runners this year is set to make it extra-special.

Don’t miss all the action live on BBC TV, or treat yourself to a day to remember by coming along – the Tuesday, in particular, is a day not to be missed!