"John Gosden" by Tomt-s (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The Royal Ascot horse racing meeting brings together the best horses not only from the UK but from around the world. This is a great opportunity for fans to see the very best horses going up against each other in what is going to be five fantastic days of sport. While the foreign raiders add a huge amount of intrigue and interest into the meeting, one British trainer, John Gosden, looks sure to have a great meeting that will include him unleashing three of his star performers.
His main horse at the meeting will be Cracksman, a horse who just managed to get up on the line in a recent run at Epsom. He was lucky that day, but clearly didn’t handle the track and should be more at home on a flat track like Ascot. He is one of the best middle-distance horses in the world, and his entire season revolves around a trip to France for the Arc. He will run in the Prince Of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot, and the latest horse racing betting has him 11/10 favourite for that race. He remains on course to head to the Arc and take on stable companion Enable, and a win at Royal Ascot will only enhance his claims for the feature race in France.
Lah Ti Dar looks to be a very exciting filly who is still learning her trade and progressing. She missed the Oaks at Epsom recently due to a slight injury but, in the long term, that could be a good thing, giving her more time to mature before her end of season targets. The next stop for her will be the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot, a race in which she is favourite for. She is likely to face some of the Oaks field in this race, and it will be interesting to see how she gets on against them and whether she would have gone close in the Oaks.
"Ascot Racecourse" by Nigel Cox (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The final of Gosden’s trio worth mentioning is Without Parole, a horse that has been brought along very slowly and he is another that looks to be an exciting prospect. He is three out of three so far but looks set for a step up in class at Royal Ascot, with the St James’s Palace Stakes being his target. Here, he will face horses that ran in the Guineas and one thing is for sure; we will find out just how good he is. He is another that could go all the way to the top this season, such has been the impression he has made on fans so far during his career.
While the talk may be about foreign raiders in the build-up to Royal Ascot, don’t forget the home challenge. John Gosden has an impressive string of horses, and he looks to have three very exciting horses heading to the Royal meeting to stake their claim and all three look to have fantastic chances of winning.