The remarkable Sole Power will attempt to make history by securing a King’s Stand Stakes hat-trick on day one of Royal Ascot and success could encourage hopes for a record-breaking Irish challenge on British racing’s flagship meeting.
There have been eight Irish-trained winners at the world-renowned extravaganza in each of the last three years, but with ante-post favourites for five of its eight Group 1 races trained in this country hopes are growing that new ground can be broken this week.
Aidan O’Brien’s dual-Guineas winner Gleneagles is a red-hot favourite for tomorrow’s St James’s Palace Stakes although one of his five opponents will be the French 2,000 Guineas winner, Make Believe.
Victory for Gleneagles would give O’Brien a record seventh success in the St James’s Palace, a race he last won with Mastercraftsman in 2009.
However, Sole Power’s efforts to become the first three-time King’s Stand winner will be the primary focus of Irish interest as the reigning Horse of the Year faces 18 opponents including the Australian hope Shamal Wind.
A total of 11 horses have twice won the five-furlong highlight in the past and trainer Eddie Lynam said: "I know it's a big task but we're very hopeful. He loves the place and we're very happy with him. His training has gone great and we're ticking off the days."
Lynam enjoyed a memorable Royal Ascot hat-trick in 2014 and last year's Queen Mary winner Anthem Alexander will take her chance in Saturday's Commonwealth Cup, the new six-furlong Group 1 prize for three year olds.
Jim Bolger’s unbeaten Round Two is set to start as clear favourite for tomorrow’s Coventry Stakes and Bolger’s hopes later in the week will include the Newmarket Guineas runner-up Lucida in Friday’s Coronation Stakes, while the classic winner Pleascach is set to run in Thursday’s Ribblesdale.
Ground conditions will play a major role in deciding if Dermot Weld allows the Gold Cup favourite Forgotten Rules to line up in Thursday's marathon feature.
Ground is vital
“As has been well documented, the ground is vital. Unfortunately Ascot missed all the thunderstorms, but we’re very hopeful.
“If the ground is safe he’ll run. He’s a very high-class horse,” Weld said.
The Curragh trainer also has the favourite for Wednesday’s Group 1 feature, the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, in Free Eagle while Mustajeeb is among the market leaders for Saturday’s Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
Newmarket-based James Fanshawe has a proven Royal Ascot record but he is looking forward to the Curragh in almost two weeks' time as a possible stop for his latest Group 1 winning mare, Ribbons.
“She is in the Pretty Polly Stakes [Sunday week] and the Eclipse, although that looks like shaping into quite a tough race this year,” he said. “Where she runs will depend on where she gets the cut in the ground she needs.”
A spokesman for the horse's owners, Elite Racing Club, added: "She wouldn't have got her ground at Ascot but she might in Ireland. She's come on for her run at York [third Middleton Stakes] and providing the ground is all right she could go to Ireland."
