Royal Ascot's second day features the £235,000 Group One Coronation Stakes, one of the hardest handicaps of the year in the £120,000 Royal Hunt Cup and the acid test of the potential superstar, Rowaasi, in the Queen Mary Stakes. Yet many Irish eyes will be focusing on the prodigal figure of Stravinsky in the opening Jersey Stakes.
Backed down to favourite for the 2,000 Guineas during the winter, Stravinsky's classic claims rang hollow on the opening day of the season at the Curragh when beaten by Tarfaa on heavy ground, and since then we haven't seen him. Aidan O'Brien has picked an onerous Group Three for Stravinsky's reappearance, with the dual Guineas runner-up, Enrique, in opposition, but the trainer is hopeful of a good run.
"The ground was all against him at the Curragh, so we decided to give him a break and let him tell us when he was ready to run again. He has been working well and has been showing a lot of speed at home," O'Brien said.
Stravinsky actually holds Enrique on Dewhurst form last October and Henry Cecil's colt has a 6lb penalty for landing the Greenham in April. Yet preference is still for Enrique, who has been admirably consistent over a mile, a distance he only just gets, and Cecil is exuding quiet confidence about his proven performer.
The fillies feature is a real teaser, with the formlines of the English, French and Irish Guineas clashing. Hula Angel landed the spoils at the Curragh but Golden Silca looked very unlucky in second and Kieren Fallon has been called in to replace Steve Drowne in the plate. Golden Silca will probably be an attractive price, but Valentine Waltz loves fast ground and the Longchamp classic winner gets the nod.
She has ground to make up on Wannabe Grand from Newmarket, but raced in the unfavoured far group that day and the harder the ground, the better Valentine Waltz likes it. O'Brien's description of his Queen Mary candidate, Warrior Queen, after winning at Leopardstown was "she has everything". Warrior Queen will probably need to cope with Rowaasi, who is being compared favourably to the ill-fated 1998 winner of this race, Bin Allayl.
The Leopardstown winner, Moon Dragon, has a tough task against the French Derby third, Rhagaas, in the Queen's Vase, but there may be a chink in the likely favourite, and the dark horse of the race may be Henry Cecil's Thirsk winner, Endorsement.
Dermot Weld's Free To Speak is the fourth Irish runner of the day, in the Hunt Cup. In a race like this, however, weight counts and Free To Speak has a lot of it. Possibly Oriental will reward tentative punters in this cavalry charge ahead of the gambled-on Pantar.
