3 minute read
Field Of Gold will take on fellow Guineas winners Ruling Court and Henri Matisse as a stellar field of seven was declared for the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
John and Thady Gosden's striking grey stayed on strongly to finish behind Ruling Court in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket before firmly setting the record straight on the Curragh next time out. Ruling Court's late Epsom Derby defection will see him renew rivalry with Field Of Gold, while Aidan O'Brien looks set to saddle his Poule d'Essai des Poulains hero Henri Matisse.
O'Brien is also responsible for the declaration of First Wave and Officer, with Windlord set to carry the second-string colours of Juddmonte for trainer Andrew Balding.
Brian Meehan's former Coventry Stakes winner Rashabar completes the field of seven after his fourth-place finish behind Field Of Gold in the Irish 2000 Guineas.
On the same card, Asfoora will have to deny 22 rivals if she is to retain her crown in the King Charles III Stakes. The daughter of Flying Artie, who is handled by the Ballarat-based Henry Dwyer, will take on the reopposing Regional and the George Boughey-trained Believing.
Dwyer said: "Everything is going well, and she has travelled over really well,"
"We were a bit apprehensive over the logistics of it because last year we were here eight weeks before Ascot and had a lead-up run at Haydock which I thought was vital, whereas this year we've tried to do as much as we could at home and arrived later and then straight to Royal Ascot.
"We simply couldn't get a flight and in an ideal world we would have been here earlier. We were thinking of going to France and having a lead-up run there which would have been good, but as it turned out we couldn't get here in time.
"I think she's a different horse this year and seems to be recovering really well and reserving herself a little bit.
"Even in her work she's a different horse and she used to be really lit up and bouncy and blowy for a bit after her work because she was revved up, but now she's sort of come back to us a bit.
"I think the blinkers may have been the missing link and I've always wanted to put blinkers on her as she is quite a 'looky' horse and now I think she has been holding back a little bit, the blinkers might add that little one per cent we need."
In the Coventry Stakes, 21 horses have been declared with the Wathnan Racing-owned Postmodern, who created a sizeable impression when making a winning debut at Yarmouth, amongst the line-up. Aidan O'Brien's unbeaten duo of Gstaad and Warsaw also feature, while Charlie Appleby and William Buick will team up with Military Code, who took his record to two from two with a battling success over five furlongs at Ascot.
