Key events

21m ago3.05 KING GEORGE V STAKES HANDICAP result
1h ago2.30 CHESHAM STAKES result
4h agoPreamble

3.40 RIBBLESDALE STAKES betting

Legacy Link - 7/4
Gilded Prize - 4/1
Earth Shot - 4/1
Composing - 9/1
Johanna Walsh - 11/1
Brilliant Star - 25/1
Warriors Whisper - 28/1
Golden Orbit - 33/1
BAR 33/1
Betting via Oddschecker

Greg Wood

3.40 RIBBLESDALE STAKES preview

Prepare for the familiar statistic on Oaks participants in the Ribblesdale, where Legacy Link seeks victory in Ascot’s Group Two for three-year-old fillies after contesting the Epsom Classic on her previous outing. Since 2010, 33 fillies have run here following an Oaks appearance and only two have prevailed, among them three market leaders and seven others sent off at 5-1 or less. It represents a stern challenge, and Legacy Link, runner-up at Epsom to the impressive Thundering On, would earn considerable praise by succeeding on her third outing inside five weeks. Earth Shot and the French raider Gilded Prize appear the main dangers, both unplaced last time yet expected to relish the longer distance. A royal contender also features, though Golden Orbit, a Sea The Stars home-bred beaten when favourite on her latest start, drifts at 33-1 and the new blinkers must deliver marked progress.

Timeform top-rated: Legacy Link

SELECTION: EARTH SHOT

3.05 KING GEORGE V STAKES HANDICAP result

1 Enceladus (R L Moore) 7-1
2 Al Azd (Cieren Fallon) 11-1
3 Believed (Oisin Murphy) 14-1
4 Heyzoom (Saffie Osborne) 6-1

3.05 KING GEORGE V STAKES HANDICAPAnd they’re off … Blue Hercules leads early … Guildmaster tracks closely … Golden Knight trails … Birgham Dub holds a handy position … turning for home … Heyzoom makes a move … Enceladus surges inside to claim victory for Ryan Moore and Joseph O’Brien! Another success for the trainer, who now boasts four winners at the meeting.

3.05 KING GEORGE V STAKES HANDICAP betting

Cannes - 4/1
Into The Light - 5/1
Heyzoom - 6/1
Enceladus - 8/1
Tierra Del Torro - 10/1
Golden Knight - 11/1
Al Azd - 11/1
Waterford Castle - 14/1
BAR 14/1
Betting via Oddschecker

Greg Wood

3.05 KING GEORGE V STAKES HANDICAP preview

This handicap for three-year-olds has produced numerous future Group winners while also leaving several hard-luck tales. Nearly all of the 19 runners have shown sufficient ability to prevail with further improvement, headed by Charlie Appleby’s Into the Light, Heyzoom (Owen Burrows) and Tierra Del Toro (Ralph Beckett), plus Joseph O’Brien’s Enceladus with Ryan Moore aboard. O’Brien junior leads the trainers’ standings after day two alongside his father and fields four runners here, including favourite Cannes, who scored at Leopardstown in May. Heyzoom recorded a strong winning time at Newbury last time, while Into The Light has finished narrowly beaten on his last two outings.

Timeform top-rated: Heyzoom.

SELECTION: HEYZOOM

2.30 CHESHAM STAKES result

1 Nola Soul (Seamie Heffernan) 11-2
2 On Just Terms (Dylan Browne McMonagle) 28-1
3 Aperoll (P J Dobbs) 12-1
14 ran Also: Non Runner: 1 No 1 Aix La Chapelle (11-4) was withdrawn not under orders. Rule 4 applies to all bets. Deduct 25p in the £.

2.30 CHESHAM STAKES

The favourite Aix La Chapelle is OUT after rearing and catching a leg in the adjoining stall …

And they’re off … Aperoll sets the early pace … Sword Salute stays close … South Dakota makes ground … Nola Soul grabs the lead and holds on for success.

Ombudsman tops with Timeform

Ombudsman becomes the highest-rated Flat horse in Europe according to Timeform after successfully defending his Prince of Wales’s Stakes title at Royal Ascot on Wednesday.

John and Thady Gosden’s Night Of Thunder colt quickened clear of strong rivals, among them Arc winner Daryz whose mark falls 1lb to 131, scoring by four lengths and earning a Timeform rating of 134 (up from 130).

A 4lb rise elevates Ombudsman above French star Calandagan (133) at the head of Timeform’s European rankings, placing him just 3lb behind world-topper Ka Ying Rising (137) from Hong Kong.

Timeform’s middle-distance handicapper, Rory King said: “Ombudsman receives a rating of 134 for his dominant repeat success in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, the best figure achieved in Europe since Baaeed.

“This edges him ahead of his Champion Stakes conqueror Calandagan after careful consideration, justified by the overall time and sectional splits from Wednesday.

“Buick appeared to benefit from that Champion Stakes experience, adopting a more patient approach in a similarly run race to unleash Ombudsman’s sharp acceleration at the ideal moment.

“Such tactics may allow him to reverse the Champion Stakes form with Calandagan next time, though the pair remain closely matched top-class five-year-olds.”

Hoofnote: Ka Ying Rising, the outstanding Hong Kong sprinter, holds a rating of 137 and remains the world’s best!

2.30 CHESHAM STAKES betting

Aix La Chapelle - 11/4
Nola Soul - 4/1
Sea Venture - 7/1
South Dakota - 8/1
Revels - 10/1
Aperoll - 11/1
On Just Terms - 14/1
Time For The Moon - 16/1
BAR - 16/1
Betting via Oddschecker

Greg Wood

2.30 CHESHAM STAKES preview

Aidan O’Brien’s initial opportunity to reach a century of Royal Ascot winners arrives through colts Aix La Chapelle and stablemate South Dakota in a contest he has captured five times in the past decade. Aix La Chapelle appeared raw on debut at the Curragh a fortnight ago yet scored comfortably and should progress. Drawn in stall five, however, he faces a test based on early evidence from the straight course. Another strong Irish contender, Fozzy Stack’s Nola Soul, also overcame inexperience to win first time out and could challenge the favourite, while George Scott’s Sea Venture encountered traffic on debut over six furlongs before displaying a sharp turn of foot to score easily. As a daughter of Sea The Stars, she should improve for the extra distance today.

Timeform top-rated: Aix La Chapelle

SELECTION: SEA VENTURE

Haslam in focus at Royal meeting

The 86-year-old Nicky Haslam, presenting a prize at Royal Ascot today, has enjoyed a remarkable career. One recent profile accurately labelled him “legendary interior designer, writer, social arbiter, partygoer, magazine editor, cabaret singer, art director, and indefatigable man-about-town”. Haslam is known as the “best-connected man in Britain” and since 2018 has issued an annual tea towel listing 40 items, individuals and phrases he finds ordinary, typically middlebrow in nature.

His most recent list, a humorous viral guide to what the society designer considers terribly unchic and released at the end of 2025, includes:
Technology & Hobbies: Air fryers, locking your car in your drive, playing Sudoku, and the Nobel Prize.
Slang & Catchphrases: “What’s not to like?”, “Bums on seats,” saying “the countryside” (instead of just “the country”), and saying “The Speccie” for The Spectator.
People & Aesthetics: Stephen Fry, Antony Gormley sculptures, Beefeaters, and couture trainers.
Etiquette: Clapping the chef in a restaurant, owning a Roberts radio, and referring to Stonehenge.
He would doubtless prove an engaging lunch companion at the meeting. He also cuts a stylish figure upon arrival at the track this morning.

Greg Wood

Gosden and O’Brien rivalry crackles in Gold Cup

The long-standing competition between leading trainers John Gosden and Aidan O’Brien falls well short of animosity – “Aidan and I are big rivals”, Gosden remarked on Wednesday, “but we get on and we tease each other a lot. There’s no harm in that and it’s a little bit of banter.”

Yet it creates an intriguing backdrop as Gosden’s Trawlerman, aiming to become only the second eight-year-old winner since 1900, faces the progressive Scandinavia, last year’s St Leger victor, in the week’s feature race.

Gosden’s “teasing” has often highlighted the large teams Ballydoyle fields in many Group Ones, and when O’Brien proposed last autumn that Ombudsman, Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner, might contest the Irish Champion Stakes, Gosden replied that his stable star would not “appreciate running against multiple entries from one stable on a track with a short straight.”

Questions over possible “team tactics” also arose after Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes, when Christophe Soumillon aboard O’Brien’s second-string Puerto Rico received an eight-day ban for riding “in a manner to benefit” stable companion and second-favourite Gstaad.

Little scope exists for tactical disputes in the Gold Cup, however, with Scandinavia O’Brien’s sole runner and Trawlerman likely to lead. The ongoing exchanges between the two trainers will nevertheless heighten interest should Trawlerman and Scandinavia battle in the closing stages.

Greg Wood

6.10 BUCKINGHAM PALACE STAKES HANDICAP preview

Support flows towards runners from high-numbered stalls in the finale, unsurprising given the pattern of straight-course races this week. Jack Channon’s Mezcala, drawn in stall 30, heads the market narrowly and looks well treated dropping to seven furlongs from a mile, while Cosi Bello (26) performed better than his narrow margin suggested at Haydock last time and holds course-and-distance form in a large field. Elerak, drawn highest in 31, also attracts support to provide Billy Loughnane with another meeting winner, while Blue Brother, absent since meeting trouble when fancied for last year’s Hunt Cup here, offers an intriguing prospect from stall 28.

Timeform top-rated: Dance In The Storm

SELECTION: BLUE BROTHER

Greg Wood

5.35 HAMPTON COURT STAKES preview

Though not the most prestigious race on the Royal Ascot card, it remains a compelling event for three-year-olds just below elite level and occasionally signals a colt heading for greater success. Endorsement, the Aidan O’Brien-trained favourite, stayed in Derby contention until late and drops to 10 furlongs after an easy Listed win over a mile and a half a fortnight ago. Maho Bay was also considered for the Derby until finishing fourth behind Maltese Cross in the Lingfield Derby Trial, yet that winner ran second at Epsom so the form may hold up well. The list of Derby trial reverses also features Morshdi, fifth in the Dante, while Oxagon, the Craven Stakes winner in April, has not progressed in two subsequent runs, the latest a Classic when 12th of 16 in the French Derby at Chantilly.