Stradivarius ready for Gold Cup hat-trick bid

Stradivarius, and Frankie Dettori of course, are the undoubted top bill on day three of Royal Ascot 2020.

In any other year, the top equine and human athletes would have to share the limelight with the clothes horses around them as Ascot traditionally embraces its own annual fashion parade on Ladies Day.

The frocks and fascinators of a thronging crowd are necessarily absent on this occasion as the Royal meeting adapts to the strict attendance limitations imposed by the threat of the coronavirus pandemic — although many will still be tempted to dress up anyway, in their own environs, as they watch from afar on television.

Stradivarius, in any case, will be oblivious — and as John Gosden’s brilliant stayer bids to join the likes of the record-breaking Yeats and Sagaro by completing a hat-trick of victories in Ascot’s most famous race of all, his big-race jockey will have no need of blinkers either.

For everyone else, the stage is set to witness another exalted chapter of racing history — and take in six complementary instalments of hugely competitive sport too on an intriguing card.

The Gold Cup hat-trick has to be on. Certainly the bookmakers think so, having priced Stradivarius up at odds on. In the absence of the off-colour Kew Gardens, who inflicted a shock defeat on the staying superstar to end his famous winning sequence over half a mile shorter in Ascot’s Long Distance Cup last October, the remaining seven opponents would all have to raise their game to beat the favourite. Martyn Meade has high hopes that his Technician can confirm his progress, and Nayef Road is another potential improver — but Stradivarius, fresh from a prep run in the Coronation Cup, most definitely sets the standard.

The supporting card tops out at Group Three and Listed level, but that does not mean it lacks quality and potential. In the Wolferton Stakes, for example, Aidan O’Brien’s Sir Dragonet is a Group winner who was beaten less than a length by stablemate Anthony Van Dyck in a blanket finish to the 2019 Derby. The lightly-raced Fox Tal is nonetheless likely to be preferred in the market, while Gosden’s Dubai Warrior had Derby aspirations at one point last year and has since rattled off a classy all-weather hat-trick. The Jersey Stakes is all about potential, with Gosden and Dettori’s King Leonidas unbeaten in two starts but facing by far his stiffest task against several others who ‘could be anything’ in a field of 15 three-year-olds.

The Chesham Stakes has just Listed status, but much like the Jersey, it could well house a major emerging talent. It certainly did 12 months ago, when Charlie Appleby’s Pinatubo launched his mighty ascent up the juvenile rankings with a commanding victory. The same connections will be hoping Modern News can hit the headlines this time, following his debut win over a furlong shorter at Newmarket this month.

The Golden Gates Handicap is an additional race at the start of a card which concludes with two equally tough puzzles — courtesy of the Britannia and fillies’ equivalent, the Sandringham. Jockey Jim Crowley has already put himself, and Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s silks, centre stage at this year’s meeting — and he has fair prospects of building his part a little more with the promising Khaloosy (Britannia) and Huboor (Sandringham).