John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Saturday.
Three points of interest
Longer trip to suit ‘large P’ colt Treanmor in Chesham
The Ballydoyle two-year-olds have been hard to beat at Royal Ascot so far this week and Aidan O’Brien’s record in the Chesham Stakes (14:30) makes very good reading too. He has won the listed contest five times in the last nine years, including with the fillies September and Bedtime Story who won the same Leopardstown maiden beforehand as the stable’s entry this year Moments of Joy. Ryan Moore passed her over on that debut just over two weeks ago but will be bidding to win this for a seventh time on the daughter of Justify.
Charlie Appleby won the Chesham in 2019 with Pinatubo who went on to be the season’s top two-year-old and he fields a very interesting contender in Treanmor. The son of Frankel has plenty to live up to given he fetched €2m as a yearling, but he couldn’t have created a better impression when bolting up against five other newcomers in a novice at Newmarket last month.
Sent off at very short odds, Treanmor travelled powerfully before leading over a furlong out and drawing four lengths clear of runner-up Vlad to win with plenty in hand. As well as the ‘’ flag, he received the ‘large P’ symbol on his rating indicating he’s open to significant improvement, while the step up from six to seven furlongs looks very much in his favour too.
Rebel without a penalty in Hardwicke
It could be a very good start to the final day of Royal Ascot for '' Charlie Appleby and William Buick as they can complete a quick double with stable stalwart Rebel’s Romance in the Hardwicke Stakes (15:05). While the Hardwicke is a Group 2, it’s an open invitation to better horses given that Group 1 winners go unpenalised. Rebel’s Romance has won no fewer than seven top-flight races around the world in his career, including four such contests in Dubai, Hong Kong, Germany and the USA last year when winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf for a second time.
In February, Rebel’s Romance added Qatar to the list of countries where he has won, and he comes here after a success closer to home in the Yorkshire Cup where he did have a penalty to carry but got the better of the smart Epic Poet by a head in a race run at a crawl. He therefore meets that rival on better terms here.
There are stronger pieces of form by which to judge Rebel’s Romance than his latest start however, and it’s worth noting that his only defeat to date in seven starts in Britain came in last summer’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes where he fared much the best of those ridden close up in finishing third behind last year’s Hardwicke winner Goliath and subsequent Arc winner Bluestocking. He’ll no doubt go for the King George again next month but can make the most of this easier task first, being 5 lb clear in the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings.
Satono Reve to make Royal Ascot history for Japan
What is now the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (15:40) has been won by sprinters from Australia, Hong Kong and the USA this century and the latest renewal brings together another international field. There are three challengers from France, headed by last year’s Prix Maurice de Gheest winner Lazzat who outclassed his field when returned to sprinting in a listed race at Chantilly last time and will have a new jockey in James Doyle following what can only have been a big-money purchase by Wathnan.
Aidan O’Brien has won this twice before with Australian imports and will therefore be hoping Storm Boy fares as well as Starspangledbanner and Merchant Navy, though he’ll have to improve plenty on his Irish debut. For the home team, last year’s Commonwealth Cup winner Inisherin looks the leading contender after returning with a win in the Duke of York Stakes in which he and Flora of Bermuda pulled well clear of the rest. Inisherin’s trainer Kevin Ryan won this five years ago with Hello Youmzain.
However, the prize may well be going abroad again, but this time to Japan. For all their success elsewhere in the world, the Japanese have drawn a blank from ten attempts in various races at Royal Ascot over the years, but Satono Reve could be the one to make history. The six-year-old beat the best of his own country’s sprinters in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in March but it’s his two runs in Hong Kong in the last six months or so which strengthen his claims here. On both occasions he proved no match for Ka Ying Rising, but there was no disgrace in those placed efforts behind a top-class performer who has won his last twelve races and looks the world’s best sprinter. Outpaced early on in his latest meeting with Ka Ying Rising when a keeping-on second in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, Satono Reve could well be suited by Ascot’s stiffer track, and he has a top-class international jockey too in former Hong Kong champion Joao Moreira.
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