All eyes on Love for day two at Royal Ascot Poetic Flare was the star on day one of Royal Ascot for Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning leading home a 1-2-3 for the Irish with a brilliant victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes from Lucky Vega and Battleground, and there are 23 Irish-trained horses in action at the Berkshire track this afternoon. All eyes will be on Love as the brilliant dual Classic winner makes her eagerly awaited seasonal reappearance in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (4.20pm). “She’s been waiting to start back a while — and while the ground is right, we’re keen to get her started,” said Aidan O’Brien. “Her other option was the Pretty Polly (June 27 at the Curragh), and we could have waited for that against her own sex — but by then the ground could have gone (soft) again. “She’s in good form, she’s ready to start again.” The ten-furlong Grade 1 event is the undoubted highlight on day two and, with Lord North a significant non-runner due to the going, O’Brien appears to have a stranglehold on form with Armory another strong contender. “This race has always been the plan for Armory — and that is why he went to Chester, to get ready for it,” said O’Brien. “We were delighted with him at Chester and we’ve been delighted with him since as well. “Going to Chester, we were a little bit worried about how he’d handle the soft ground — but good, fast ground is what he likes and needs.” Wordsworth is also likely to go off favourite for the Ballydoyle trainer in the Queen’s Vase (3.05). The first on a seven-race card gets underway at 2.30pm, while the going is Good to Firm with 4mm of watering overnight to maintain.
