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Welcome to Just Horse Racing’s news and discussions for Day 1 of the Royal Ascot racing carnival. Join Morgan Payne and Andrew Hawkins live from Ascot racecourse to share and talk about today’s racing which includes two Australian runners ‘Ortensia’ and ‘Helmet’ as well as England’s best racehorse ‘Frankel’.

Join the Cover-it-Live blog below, with Andrew’s live thoughts below the chat.

5:18pm (2:18am AEST) – Unfortunately I’m having technical problems which aren’t letting me update the blog, so I’m going to have to end it prematurely. I hope you’ve enjoyed today, the next blog will be on Saturday for the biggest Australian raceday outside the country.

4:49pm (1:49am AEST) – Preview for the next race, the marathon Ascot Stakes (4000m). I do like AL KHAWANEEJ but it is not a race I’m really keen on. The other three that caught my eye were VEILED, SIMENON and WESTERN PEARL. Open race.

11 – AL KHAWANEEJ
3 – VEILED
2 – SIMENON
7 – WESTERN PEARL

COVENTRY STAKES

1st – DAWN APPROACH (W: $4.70, P: $1.90)
2nd – OLYMPIC GLORY (W: $8.10)
3rd – CRISTOFORO COLOMBO (P: $3.30)
4th – to come

Good win to Dawn Approach, a son of an Epsom Derby winner in New Approach. Dawn Approach has proven himself quite a handy sprinter, and will probably be seen again next year in the English classics. Olympic Glory ran home well for second, while Cristoforo Colombo hit the lead at the furlong pole before being gunned down late.

4:25pm (1:25am AEST) – Unfortunately we were waiting for a press conference from Peter Moody which didn’t eventuate, so we have no preview for the Coventry Stakes. Maybe something on Cristoforo Colombo.

4:20pm (1:20am AEST) – Neil Werrett, owner of Black Caviar, describes Frankel as a handy horse. Too funny!!! He was joking of course, the Australian wit not getting through to everyone. Rumour also has it Bated Breath, second in the King’s Stand Stakes today, will back up on Saturday.

ST JAMES’S PALACE STAKES 

1st – MOST IMPROVED (W: $10.80, P: $3.40)
2nd – HERMIVAL (P: $4.00)
3rd – GREGORIAN (P: $6.20)
4th – to come

Disappointing race after The Nile breaks down badly. No racing fan likes to see that and it was not a great sight. But Most Improved wins the St James’s Palace Stakes from Hermival and Gregorian.

3:41pm (12:41am AEST) – These races are rolling around quickly, with the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes (1600m) up next. It is around the bend here at Ascot. Frankel was almost beaten here last year – a completely different scenario to his romp this year. POWER looks very hard to beat and should win, but I think I’ll have a couple of small bets at value. BORN TO SEA is the half brother to Galileo and Sea The Stars and I think he’s been primed for a race like this, while THE NILE is the fresh horse on the scene. I’ll put Power third, just ahead of LUCAYAN.

2 – BORN TO SEA
15 – THE NILE
13 – POWER
10 – LUCAYAN

3:40pm (12:40am AEST) – Little Bridge’s jockey Zac Purton flies back to Hong Kong tonight – it was the expat Aussie’s first time in England! Trainer Danny Shum has said the horse is unlikely to come to Australia, instead targeting Japan before the Hong Kong Sprint in December.

3:25pm (12:25am AEST) – It’s been suggested by Matt Chapman from At The Races that Black Caviar would not have won that race. It’s already causing much consternation in Australia…

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/thaylock/status/215088003155111936″]

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/BradThompson83/status/215087477407485954″]

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/WePuntRacing/status/215087328971075586″]

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/DufficyRon/status/215086936522637313″]

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/TheSharkTweet/status/215086577204989952″]

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/Jaymathieson11/status/215086743576264704″]

Interesting to see what he has to say on Saturday when Black Caviar (hopefully) wins!!!

KING’S STAND STAKES

1st – LITTLE BRIDGE (W: $15.80, P: $5.40)
2nd – BATED BREATH (P: $2.40)
3rd – SOLE POWER (P: $3.60)
4th – MEDICEAN MAN

Little Bridge takes the King’s Stand Stakes to demonstrate the transformation of this race into a truly global Group 1 affair. In the last four years, the winners have come from Australia, Spain, the UK and now Hong Kong. Little Bridge was always handy and had enough in hand to beat Bated Breath while 1000m specialist Sole Power made good ground for third. Ortensia tried to come up the inside and looked a threat at one stage but laboured to finish about four lengths from the leader.

2:56pm (11:56pm AEST) – Next race up is the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes (1000m), featuring Australia’s own ORTENSIA down the straight. They are mounting up now. I think she’s a good chance here and if she brings her Dubai form, she’ll be hard to beat. The big danger is the local BATED BREATH, who was good in the Temple Stakes and looms as the big danger. I think the query is the Hong Kong horse, LITTLE BRIDGE, while at odds I don’t mind STONE OF FOLCA who was good first up at Epsom.

18 – ORTENSIA
2 – BATED BREATH
6 – LITTLE BRIDGE
14 – STONE OF FOLCA

2:54pm (11:54pm AEST) – Sir Henry Cecil says Frankel is still improving, a very scary thought.

2:53pm (11:53pm AEST) – The English are being a bit over the top at the moment, gloating about how much better he is than Black Caviar. Surely we can enjoy them both??

2:49pm (11:49pm AEST) – And, I guess, can Black Caviar live up to that amazing effort from Frankel??? Big question!!!

2:46pm (11:46pm AEST) – Frankel ran a time of 1:37.85, just 0.7 seconds off the course record on a track considered to be on the worse side of dead. Brilliant effort. The question is, what Timeform rating now??

QUEEN ANNE STAKES

1st – FRANKEL (W: $1.04, P: $1.00)
2nd – EXCELEBRATION (P: $1.50)
3rd – SIDE GLANCE (P: $6.50)
4th –  INDOMITO

WOW!!!! You couldn’t ask for a better start to Royal Ascot than that. Frankel, champion that he is, clocks home 11 lengths clear of Excelebration. Wow!!! Wow!!! Wow!!! It’s just unreal. And the atmosphere was insane! That was definitely a moment to savour. Helmet, after being up near the lead, faded to finish midfield – he was in contention for fourth until the final 100m.

2:23pm (11:23pm) – They are heading out for the Queen Anne Stakes, I’m going to get a good view of this horse!

2:19pm (11:19pm AEST) – For the ultimate guide to Royal Ascot from an Australian perspective, check out this article.

2:14pm (11:14pm AEST) – So the first race is the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes over a mile down the straight course. And it would be a massive shock and an absolute travesty if the great FRANKEL is beaten. He is the best horse in the northern hemisphere, if not the world, and he should dispose of this field with ease. It looks no tougher than the Lockinge Stakes, which he won convincingly almost four weeks ago. For second, I think the bridesmaid will continue his role – EXCELEBRATION looks like a very good miler, but he’s not in Frankel’s league and I think he’ll find himself well beaten here. I do think if HELMET finds his best he could run a place in one of these races, not sure how he’s going though so I’m putting him in more on parochialism than anything else. And STRONG SUIT looks promising but I can’t see him featuring here, he could run third perhaps.

3 – FRANKEL
2 – EXCELEBRATION
11 – HELMET
8 – STRONG SUIT

2:10pm (11:10pm AEST) – Now the Queen is on track, the real party – featuring some of the world’s best horses – can begin.

2:00pm (11:00pm AEST) – The Queen and the Royal Family are about to arrive on track – it is worth watching if you get a chance, a display of the pomp and pageantry for which the Brits are renowned.

1:56pm (10:56pm AEST) – Welcome to Just Horse Racing’s live blog from the first day of the world’s biggest racing carnival, Royal Ascot. It’s Andrew Hawkins and Morgan Payne here, live from the English capital London. Today begins five nights of insomnia and obsession from Australian racing fans as they follow this most prestigious of race meetings from halfway around the world. As you will find, each day of the five day carnival has only six races on the card – quite different to Australia’s big meetings, which normally have 9 or 10 races. The first two races are of the most interest to Australians – the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes over a mile, featuring the world’s best horse Frankel and three time Group 1 winner down under Helmet. It should be a walk in the park for Frankel, and the atmosphere on track is electric for this top miler. His race jumps at 2:30pm, which is 11:30pm on the eastern seaboard in Australia. Then, it is time for Ortensia to fly the flag for Australia in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes (1000m), which Australia has won four times – with Choisir (2003), Takeover Target (2006), Miss Andretti (2007) and Scenic Blast (2009). She faces 23 rivals in the straight race, which jumps at 3:05pm here (12:05am AEST). So get ready for a big day here, I will be posting my selections. I’ll answer any queries you may have about the carnival. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the day’s racing too. You can contact us in a number of ways – send me an email at [email protected], tweet me at @AndrewNJHawkins or comment on the Just Horse Racing Facebook page. I hope you’ll enjoy our coverage of the 2012 Royal Ascot Carnival.

 
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