Which smaller Irish yards have big Royal Ascot dreams?

Royal Ascot offers up five days of world-class action but far from being dominated by a handful of yards, a key strength of the meeting is the range of different winners.

While Aidan O’Brien will no doubt dominate headlines in 2026, 16 different trainers took home a trophy last year so it would be wrong to dismiss the smaller Irish yards heading over in search of a Royal Ascot winner.

Trainer Joe Murphy showed what could be achieved when Cercene took the Coronation Stakes, his first ever Group 1 victory, and these three Irish trainers are going in search of a Royal Ascot winner this week.

Mick Mulvany

In the Coventry Stakes on Tuesday Mick Mulvany, who has been training for 21 years, will saddle his first ever runner at Royal Ascot with The Scallionator His stablemate Arizona Raider was also declared but is a non-runner.

Over the past 21 days, Mulvany has trained three winners and he is hopeful the colt, who was a bargain buy, can run his race at big odds.

Ciaran Murphy

Keep an eye on how The Scallionator gets on because Ciaran Murphy, runs Ischgl in the Windsor Castle Stakes on Wednesday and his form ties in with Mulvany’s colt.

Murphy’s two-year-old was second to The Scallionator last time at Listowel and also finished second behind Great Barrier Reef on debut at the Curragh at 100-1. He is a 66-1 shot.

Stephen Thorne

Stephen Thorne has one of the leading contenders for the Royal Hunt Cup on Wednesday in Jagged Edge and has described the son of Blue Point as being in ‘ripping form’.

Formerly with Dermot Weld, the four-year-old won at Naas last month on his first run for Thorne and a subsequent winner has come out of that race. An eyecatching entry at 16-1.

Other interesting stories to note

Aidan O'Brien will attempt to reach 100 winners at Royal Ascot this year and has a whole host of horses that could help him hit that milestone.

Interestingly, O'Brien has never won the King Charles III Stakes but has a contender this time in Mission Central

Smart mare Snellen, who won the Chesham at the Royal meeting three years ago before finishing second last year in the Kensington Palace Stakes for Gavin Cromwell, is currently 16-1 for the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes.

Gordon Elliott has won the Queen Alexandra Stakes twice. This year, he has Mordor running in the Ascot Stakes under Jamie Spencer, while hardened handicapper, Ndaawi, holds an entry in the Duke Of Edinburgh on Friday.

Amo Racing are known to have Royal Ascot on their radar and Robson Aguiar will have his first runners at Royal Ascot for Kia Joorabchian and the Amo Racing team this week. He took over the training licence from Adrian Murray in November 2025.