Were the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes run at a mile-and-a-half it would be safe to categorise it in terms of a classic Coolmore-Godolphin head-to-head between Highland Reel and Jack Hobbs.
But since Royal Ascot’s Day Two highlight has been run at a-mile-and-a-quarter since 1969 the filly Queen’s Trust could ultimately prove a value alternative at double-figure odds.
Admittedly she does appear to be second in the pecking order of trainer Sir Michael Stoute behind her stable companion Ulysses but that colt is arguably more of a mile-and-a-half operator as well.
The 17 renewals of Prince Of Wales’s Stakes since it was promoted to Group One status have contained a number of outstanding horses such as Azamour, Ouija Board and Duke Of Marmalade versatile enough to be equally as effective at ten furlongs as a-mile-and-a-half. But it’s a rare versatility at the absolute top level.
Highland Reel and Jack Hobbs are contemporaries, both top class and identically rated on 123. They are also battle-hardened and thoroughly admirable.
But their best form appears to be at the longer trip and the drop back looks to make them vulnerable to a rival better equipped for the specific demands of the distance. The big question could wind up being if any of their rivals are equipped enough to take advantage.
Ulysses is still something of an unknown quantity in comparison and in concrete form terms he has yet to live up to his reputation. Maybe this is when he manages it but in betting terms he looks short enough for a horse yet to win at the highest level.
The French hope Mekhtaal is a Group One winner but that Prix d’Ispahan form is hardly outstanding and the Curragh Tattersalls Gold Cup hero Decorated Knight could be a better alternative to him.
Breeders Cup
Queen's Trust isn't an outstanding filly in the mould of Ouija Board or Bosra Sham but she is perfectly suited to this trip and can boast a Breeders Cup success on ground even faster than this.
She should also be a much more formidable proposition with the benefit of a York run under her belt on unsuitable going last month and she has the valuable big-race assistance of Olivier Peslier.
That York effort in the Middleton Stakes saw Queen's Trust finish behind her stable companion Smart Call and the South Africa import can prove a major presence in the preceding Duke Of Cambridge Stakes.
A total of 14-Irish trained hopes are declared to run on Day Two including Treasuring who lines up in a Queen Mary Stakes containing the latest Wes Ward-trained juvenile flier, Happy Like A Fool.
Considering that Acapulco and Lady Aurelia have won the last two renewals, the US star looks a formidable opponent. But Treasuring reminds trainer Ger Lyons of his 2007 Queen Mary heroine Elletelle and has her chance.
Irish-trained horses have won the concluding Sandringham Handicap twice since it was introduced to the Royal Ascot programme in 2002 and three raiders line up this time.
Jim Bolger’s Bean Fasa could relish the ground conditions but if she enters calculations then so at the weights does Aidan O’Brien’s Asking who could be a memorable first Royal Ascot winner for the trainer’s daughter, Ana.
