Royal Ascot 2023 day two: Frankie Dettori ends drought on Gregory in Queen’s Vase – as it happened

We had to wait till near the end of day two but it was definitely worth the wait for the first winner at this meeting from Frankie Dettori who is, and you may not have read this anywhere, riding at his final Royal Ascot. From the moment I first saw the Italian live – at an ordinary Saturday night fixture at Ripon races in the late 1980s when I was told to watch out for him and also that he already knew he was very good – he has been a highlight of the racing scene. It is no exaggeration to say that along with Lester Piggott, and John McCririck he has been one of the very few racing personalities to make the crossover and become well known outside the sport itself. Racing is going to miss him – his infectious enthusiasm and his genuine outstanding talent – when he quits the saddle at the end of the year. Matt Chapman, the ITV Racing presenter, told him after his victory today that trainer John Gosden had said after the race that “Gregory is going to be my Gold Cup horse and I want Frankie to be riding him.” Dettori told Chapman not to joke about it. It’s clear this mercurial character is going to miss race-riding as much as we are going to miss seeing him.

1 Big Evs 20-1
2 Johannes Brahms 10-3 f
3 Inquisitively 18-1

And they’re off … Scoops Ahoy is fast out of the stalls … Bombay Bazaar is close up … Big Evs is going well … and nothing was ever going to catch him once he kicked clear.

Two Tribes has been withdrawn from the Windsor Castle Stakes (6.10pm) after an inspection by the racecourse vet at the start. Seven Questions also out of the race.

Ruby Walsh has been an excellent addition to the ITV pundits roster and his analysis of races are always well worth a listen. Here he is on Frankie Dettori’s great ride on Gregory in the Queen’s Vase.

Frankie brings Royal Ascot alive. He sounded extremely relieved to get that Queen’s Vase Stakes winner Gregory home and he got quite a reception (at least by Royal Ascot standards anyway).

“I thought this winner was never going to come this year. I had three seconds yesterday, but I knew this would be my best chance,” Dettori told ITV Racing.

“I was in front a long time and when Oisin [Murphy, on the runner-up] came to me I thought ‘oh no, not second again’. This horse really stuck his neck out though, he was great. To ride a winner at my last Royal Ascot is fantastic.

“It was amazing the reception I got because it is my last season, I couldn’t be happier. I’m both sad and happy, I’ve still got three more days, but at least I’ve got one on the board.”

• Maximum Impact 4/1

• Johannes Brahms 9/2

• Barnwell Boy 5/1

• World Of Darcy 9/1

• Inquisitively 12/1

• Supersonic Man 20/1

• Action Point 20/1

• Big Evs 20/1

• Bombay Bazaar 20/1

• Mayo Neighs 22/1

• Alabama 22/1

• Sergeant Wilko 33/1

• Hackman 33/1

• Up The Manor 40/1

• Muqtahem 50/1

• Ganesha 50/1

• Fusterlandia 66/1

• Hala Emaraaty 70/1

• Sir Bolton 80/1

• Seven Questions 90/1

• Scoops Ahoy 100/1

• Myconian 150/1

• Lieutenant Rascal 250/1

• Two Tribes 250/1

• Magnificent Match 500/1

• Full betting via Oddschecker

10h ago02.48 AEST

Windsor Castle Stakes (6.10pm) preview

Greg Wood

The opener was a big-field sprint for juvenile fillies, and the two-year-old colts and geldings get their chance at the other end of the card in another fiercely competitive heat. Unlike the Queen Mary, though, this race has a runner for the O’Brien/Moore combo in Johannes Brahms, a winner in a good time on debut at Naas. He is currently vying for favouritism with Barnwell Boy, from the Charlie Johnston stable, who was similarly impressive after making the long trip south to Goodwood for his debut just under a month ago. Up-and-coming Newmarket trainer Alice Haynes, meanwhile, has two runners, both unbeaten in two starts, as she looks for her first Royal Ascot winner, and they are at opposite ends of the market, with Maximum Impact on offer at around 5-1 and his stable companion, Hala Emaraaty, at 80-1 to follow up wins at Ripon and Redcar.

SELECTION: MAXIMUM IMPACT

1 Gregory Evens fav
2 Saint George 10/1
3 Chesspiece11/2

And they’re off … Nurburgring is towards the rear with Frankie Dettori leading the field on the hot favourite Gregory … Hadrianus is in second … Chesspiece is close to the leaders … Circle of Fire is there with a chance … Gregory kicks for home … Frankie leads … Saint George challenges late but fails and Dettori wins a race at last!

Going change …

• Gregory 5/4

• Peking Opera 5/1

• Chesspiece 6/1

• Circle of Fire 8/1

• Saint George 10/1

• St Vincents Garden 22/1

• Etna Rosso 33/1

• Hadrianus 33/1

• Batemans Bay 40/1

• Sumo Sam 50/1

• Nurburgring 100/1

• Think First 100/1

• Ndaawi 125/1

• Steven Seagull 500/1

• Full Oddschecker betting here

11h ago02.16 AEST

Queen's Vase (5.35pm) preview

Greg Wood

On paper at least, the unbeaten and lightly-raced Gregory is Frankie Dettori’s best chance of a winner today and will take on added significance if his rider arrives at the penultimate event on the card still looking for his first winner of the meeting. He certainly looked like a three-year-old to follow when successful in the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood, and while he has yet to race beyond a mile-and-a-half, his stamina for this extended 14 furlongs seems reasonably assured given that he is by a Derby and Arc winner in Golden Horn, out of a Galileo mare who won the Park Hill Stakes, the “fillies’ Leger”, at Doncaster.

This being Ascot, though, there are plenty of interesting alternatives if you are looking for a better price, including Circle Of Fire, who is owned by the King and seems sure to appreciate the step up to this trip after a troubled passage in the Lingfield Derby Trial last time out. Peking Opera, who took the Yeats Stakes earlier in the year, and Charlie Appleby’s Chesspiece, a smooth handicap winner in a decent time at York’s Dante meeting, are also worth a second look.

SELECTION: CIRCLE OF FIRE

1 Jimi Hendrix 22-1
2 Sonny Liston 25-1
3 Awaal 15-2
4 Aerion Power 40-1

And they’re off … Ghaly is off quick … Reach For The Moon leads on the nearside … Perotto is near the leaders … Jimi Hendrix goes into a clear lead and beats Sonny Liston.

Royal Hunt Cup market movers

• Awaal – 18/1 into 10/1

• Wanees – 25/1 into 16/1

• Full details via Oddspedia

• Perotto 15/2

• Ghaly 9/1

• Dunum 9/1

• Awaal 10/1

• Astro King 11/1

• Intellogent 14/1

• Reach For The Moon 16/1

• Blue For You 18/1

• Wanees 18/1

• Chasing Aphrodite 18/1

• Dual Identity 22/1

• Jimi Hendrix 25/1

• Koy Koy 25/1

• Sonny Liston 25/1

• Atrium 25/1

• Point Lynas 25/1

• Tempus 28/1

• Bless Him 28/1

• Aerion Power 40/1

• Isla Kai 40/1

• Outbreak 40/1

• Orbaan 40/1

• Greatgadian 40/1

• Ouzo 40/1

• Dawn Of Liberation 50/1

• Bear Force One 50/1

• Positive 66/1

• Imperial Fighter 80/1

• Revich 80/1

• Light And Dark 125/1

• Full Oddschecker betting here

11h ago01.42 AEST

Royal Hunt Cup (5.00pm) preview

Greg Wood

This handicap down the straight mile is one of the great spectacles of British Flat racing, and also one of the most compelling betting events in the calendar. You are all, quite frankly, on your own for this one, and probably all the better for it too, as I can’t recall having the winner since Showboat bolted up in 1999 and it isn’t something you tend to forget. A few potentially key pieces of form to consider, though, include: the Victoria Cup over the last seven furlongs of the straight course in May, which featured Perotto, today’s favourite, in seventh; the Hambleton Handicap at York’s Dante meeting which Astro King, Blue For You, Point Lynas and Isla Kai were all runners, and also the Emerald Mile at the Curragh (video from 3m40sec) where Dunum put up the latest of several fine performances in big field to finish a close second. For me, this annual, confidence-sapping ritual came down to Dunum and Blue For You and I plumped for the former, who has been backed from 16-1 yesterday down to no bigger than 10-1 third-favourite at the time of writing - so be sure to have a bit on Blue For You before he duly romps home.

SELECTION: DUNUM

1 Mostahdaf 10/1
2 Luxembourg 2/1 f

And they’re off … Classic Causeway is expected to lead … and he’s out fast but Luxembourg and Ryan Moore are determined to be at the front … Adayar is in third … My Prospero is poised … Luxembourg goes for home …but here comes Mostahdaf and he’s a very impressive winner from Luxembourg.

Prince of Wales’s Stakes (4.20pm) market moves

• Bay Bridge – 9/2 into 5/2

• Mostahdaf – 25/1 into 14/1

• Details via Oddspedia

• Luxembourg 2/1

• Bay Bridge 5/2

• Adayar 4/1

• My Prospero 11/2

• Mostahdaf 18/1

• Classic Causeway 125/1

• Full Oddschecker betting here

12h ago00.55 AEST

Prince of Wales's Stakes (4.20pm) preview

Greg Wood

The day’s feature event is not quite the race it promised to be when Desert Crown, last year’s Derby winner, was on course to take part, but it is an immense clash of some outstanding talents all the same, with four of the very best mile-and-a-quarter horses on the planet in the field. Three of them – Bay Bridge, Adayar and My Prospero – were separated by less than a length in the Champion Stakes over today’s course and distance on Champions day last year, when Bay Bridge battled on bravely on good-to-soft ground to win by half a length with My Prospero finishing strongly after being caught a little flat-footed inside the final two.

It is entirely plausible that My Prospero could improve past the pair of them today as William Haggas’s runner has only seven runs behind him to date. Luxembourg, though, seems sure to start favourite, not least as Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore were on a real roll on Tuesday, and last year’s Irish Champion Stakes winner is also narrowly in front on the ratings. He also beat Bay Bridge in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh last month, showing versatility as he did so by winning from the front, and he too has scope for improvement this season with only nine starts to his name.

SELECTION: LUXEMBOURG

1 Rogue Millennium 10/1
2 Random Harvest 22/1
3 Prosperous Voyage 100/30 jt-fav

And they’re off … Prosperous Voyage and Random Harvest are in the lead in the early stages with Lightship at the back … Random Harvest takes a clear lead … Jumbly is in midfield … Prosperous Voyage makes a challenge … Jumbly and Rogue Millennium come there and the latter gets up in the final furlong to win.

Frankie couldn’t have been too happy after yesterday … and now we have proof.

Villanova Queen’s victory in the Kensington Palace Stakes was a particularly popular one given the trainer’s health issues in recent times.

• Jumbly 3/1

• Prosperous Voyage 7/2

• Grande Dame 9/2

• Honey Girl 9/1

• Queen Aminatu 10/1

• Rogue Millennium 10/1

• Potapova 18/1

• Random Harvest 22/1

• Internationalangel 33/1

• Lightship 150/1

• Full betting via Oddschecker

12h ago00.22 AEST

Duke of Cambridge Stakes (3.40pm) preview

Greg Wood

A more manageable field of 10 for the third of the day’s races for fillies and mares, and another Joseph O’Brien-trained runner at the top of the betting in Jumbly. She has a win at the track to her name in last season’s Valiant Stakes, although that was on the round course rather than today’s straight mile, and looks the type to keep improving at four. The same, though, is very much true of John and Thady Gosden’s Grande Dame, who is making her seasonal debut here after a progressive three-year-old campaign which culminated in a strong third-place finish in the Group One Sun Chariot Stakes. Top-rated on Timeform’s numbers, meanwhile, is the Group One-winning Prosperous Voyage, with Frankie Dettori holding the reins, and the firm’s ratings also suggest that Potapova, available at around 20-1, could be in the mix on her best form, although her two runs so far this season have been disappointing.

SELECTION: GRANDE DAME

1 Villanova Queen 25-1
2 Don’t Tell Claire22/1
3 Tarrabb 13/2
4 Adelaise 7/1

And they’re off … Roman Mist is out quickly with Zenga … Divine Light now takes up the running … Tamarama is in second place … Lady Eros and Don’t Tell Claire make a move … Villanova Queen comes late and last to win.

The Americans are on the board with their first winner of the week after Crimson Advocate’s narrow victory in the first race today.

It’s getting quicker out there on the track (and there’s no more rain forecast this week)

Kensington Palace Stakes (3.05pm) market movers

• Tarrabb – 14/1 into 13/2

• Adelaise – 25/1 into 13/2

• Full details at Oddspedia

• Yerwanthere 11/2

• Tarrabb 13/2

• Lady Eros 13/2

• Adelaise 13/2

• Crystal Caprice 10/1

• Tamarama 11/1

• Indian Wish 14/1

• Farhh To Shy 16/1

• Discretion 16/1

• Belhaven 22/1

• Don’t Tell Claire 22/1

• Villanova Queen 22/1

• Zenga 25/1

• Mukaddamah 25/1

• Roman Mist 33/1

• Love Interest 35/1

• Divine Light 40/1

• Sly Madam 80/1

• Golden Spice 100/1

• Full betting via Oddschecker

13h ago23.48 AEST

Kensington Palace Stakes (3.05pm) preview

Greg Wood

Another big field of females to untangle, but the betting market at least seems to see it as a fine chance for Joseph O’Brien – whose father, Aidan, took over as the all-time leading trainer at the meeting on Tuesday – to get only his second royal-meeting winner on the board. O’Brien, twice a Derby winner as a jockey, has been training since 2016 and only turned 30 – not that you’d know it to look at him – last month, and has already won the Melbourne Cup twice, an Irish Derby and bagged two winners at the Breeders’ Cup. His Royal Ascot record, however, is a little underwhelming, with just one winner – State Of Rest in last year’s Prince Of Wales’s Stakes – from 51 starters.

His two runners here – Yerwanthere and Adelaise - top the betting, however, at 9-2 and 11-2 respectively, and both have obvious claims after things did not go their way on their latest outings. Yerwanthere was short of room in a Listed race at Naas last month and makes her handicap debut off 93, while Adelaise, who has more big-field experience, responded well to the fitting of a hood to finish a close third of 20 at the Curragh, on her first start for eight months. Tarrabb, in a first-time tongue tie after a decent return to action at Chelmsford on 4 May, is another to consider, along with Ralph Beckett’s Tamarama, the mount of Frankie Dettori, who was back to winning form in a well-run race at Kempton earlier this month.

SELECTION: ADELAISE

1 Crimson Advocate 9-1
2 Relief Rally 5-1
3 Beautiful Diamond 11-4fav

And they’re off … this is going to be quick … Bundchen was very slow out of the stalls … Crimson Advocate leads in the early stages … Beautiful Diamond is challenging … Relief Rally comes late and think she may have got there … PHOTO FINISH! Relief Rally was in front near the line but may have been pegged back. And she has been!!

• Beautiful Diamond 11/4

• Relief Rally 6/1

• Got To Love A Grey 8/1

• Midnight Affair 10/1

• Balsam 14/1

• Out Of The Stars 14/1

• Juniper Berries 14/1

• Crimson Advocate 16/1

• Flors Of Bermuda 16/1

• Princess Chizara 25/1

• Graceful Thunder 28/1

• Cynane 30/1

• Bundchen 33/1

• Onigiri 35/1

• Betties Bay 35/1

• Gaiden 35/1

• Lady Pink Rose 66/1

• Cotai Vision 66/1

• Geologist 70/1

• Launch 80/1

• Thanksbutnothanks 100/1

• Bated Moon 100/1

• Tallulabelle 125/1

• Callianassa 125/1

• Hot Front 125/1

• Mariamne 150/1

• Full betting via Oddschecker

1 Beige/Cream/White 12-1 (after stewards’ inquiry!)

Plenty of lively discussion on ITV Racing about whether Frankie Dettori should have got his nine-day ban yesterday for his ride on Saga.

He has yet to decide whether he will appeal a nine-day ban which is due to run from 4-12 July, meaning he will be unable to ride likely favourite Emily Upjohn in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on 8 July.

“I’ve got to consult my legal team and we’ll decide whether I’m going to appeal or not,” Dettori told ITV’s The Opening Show.

“I’m glad that nobody got hurt. It’s one of those things, the bend comes very quickly after the start and it can get very congested at that point in the race, but I haven’t had chance to go through it properly yet. I’ll talk to my lawyers today.”

14h ago22.38 AEST

Queen Mary Stakes (2.30pm) preview

Greg Wood

A fiendish puzzle to start proceedings on day two, with 27 fillies – in the absence of Tiger Belle – sprinting down the straight five furlongs. Nine are unbeaten so far, 13 won on their most recent start and it is difficult to know where to start. The bookies make Beautiful Diamond, an impressive winner of her only start at Nottingham earlier this month, the favourite at around 7-2, and Karl Burke, her trainer, knows what it takes to land this race as he saddled Dramatised to win 12 months ago.

But there are a whole host of rivals that would not need to find much improvement to figure, including Relief Rally, Born To Rock and Got To Love A Grey, all of whom are also currently unbeaten. They also all have double-figure draws, like nine of the last 10 winners of this race, and in the final reckoning, that stat draws me ever-so-slightly towards the US-trained challenger, Crimson Advocate, close to the near-side rail in 28. She showed the gate speed and early pace you would expect from an American-trained runner when successful in the Royal Palm at Gulfstream Park – a “win-and-you’re-in” for today’s contest – when she covered the first quarter in 21.83sec, and was not stopping when she hit the wire.

SELECTION: CRIMSON ADVOCATE

Nicholas Clee, author of the excellent Course for Horses, may be about to downgrade Ascot.

Full race schedule for Wednesday
Queen Mary Stakes - 2:30pm
(Guardian tip: Crimson Advocate)
Kensington Palace Stakes - 3:05pm
(Guardian tip: Adelaise)
Duke Of Cambridge Stakes - 3:40pm
(Guardian tip: Grande Dame)
Prince Of Wales’s Stakes - 4:20pm
(Guardian tip: Luxembourg nb)
Royal Hunt Cup - 5pm
(Guardian tip: Dunum nap)
Queen’s Vase Stakes - 5:35pm
(Guardian tip: Circle Of Fire)
Windsor Castle Stakes - 6:10pm
(Guardian tip: Maximum Impact)

1st Carriage
The King
The Queen
The Earl of Halifax
The Countess of Halifax

2nd Carriage
The Duke of Edinburgh
The Duchess of Edinburgh
The Rt. Hon. the Lord Soames of Fletching
The Lady Sarah Keswick

3rd Carriage
Mr. Mike Tindall
Mrs. Mike Tindall
Mr. William Haggas
Mrs. William Haggas

4th Carriage
Sir Michael Stoute
The Lady Charles Spencer-Churchill
The Lord Lloyd Webber
The Lady Lloyd Webber

“After yesterday’s favourite (white/cream) came in bookies are in disagreement about which colour hat Queen Camilla will wear on Day two of Royal Ascot”, reports BestofBets.com. “The best money is currently coming in for a blue/navy number, which was always one of Queen Elizabeth’s ‘go-to’ colours.”

• 6/4 Blue

• 3/1 Pink

• 4/1 Green

• 8/1 Yellow

• 12/1 White

• 12/1 Orange

• 16/1 Red

• 16/1 Purple

• 25/1 Black

• Boylesports betting

The non-runners have been updated so don’t pop these onto your betting slips for this afternoon’s contests.

2:30pm BORN TO ROCK Bad Scope
2:30pm TIGER BELLE Bad Scope
3:05pm AL AGAILA Bruised Foot
5:00pm MIGRATION Unsuitable ground
6:10pm FANDOM Unsuitable ground

The famous Osborne Gallery in London, which has regularly hosted excellent racing-themed exhibitions over the years, is the place to head this summer if you want to see some more wonderfully curated work. Their latest collection is entitled ‘Impressions of the Turf’ and is on until July 15th. The artists featured are Lara Robinson, Jessica Hills, Clementine St John Webster and Michelle McCullagh.

Racegoers are arriving at the track for the second day of the meeting.

Frankie Dettori had a shocker yesterday and will be desperate for a winner this week, at his final Royal Ascot in the saddle. He has decent chances including an obvious one in Gregory, who lines up in the Queen’s Vase at 5.35pm.

Highfield Princess, who ran an excellent race in defeat in the King’s Stand yesterday, will be lining up again on Saturday in the QEII Jubilee Stakes.

Chris Stickels, who got some stick yesterday (see tweet from pro-punter Eddie Fremantle below), has weighed in with the latest information. The going for day two is: Good on the straight course and Good, Good to Soft in places on the round course.

GoingStick readings at 8am
(the higher the stick reading the faster the ground):
Stands side: 7.7
Centre: 7.5
Far side: 7.5
Round: 6.6

18h ago19.18 AEST

Preamble

Greg Wood

Good morning and welcome to Ascot racecourse, where day two of the 2023 royal meeting will get under way at 2.30pm with Frankie Dettori still looking for his first winner of the week and hoping that things don’t go from bad to worse.

Tuesday was set up to be Dettori’s day, with several fancied rides and an obvious opportunity to get the meeting off to a flyer. He ended up with three second-place finishes, a late non-runner and, most embarrassingly, a nine-day ban for causing significant interference on Saga – the King’s only runner on the day – which rules him out of the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown next month.

With the obvious exception of Saga, Dettori did not really do a great deal wrong on Tuesday, but his mounts were not quite good enough. When you are the most high-profile jockey of the last 30 years, however, and you announced back at Christmas that this season would be your last, a bad first day at the royal meeting can take on a life of its own.

Dettori has four rides on today’s card, three of which are likely to set off at single-figure odds. Tamarama is one of the favourites for the Kensington Palace Fillies’ Handicap at 3.05pm, Prosperous Voyage is around 11-4 for the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes and Gregory is a very warm order for the Queen’s Vase.

His other ride, meanwhile, is Reach For The Moon in the Royal Hunt Cup, another runner in the King’s colours and a bitter disappointment when odds-on for the Hampton Court Stakes here last year.

But he does not have a mount in the feature event, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, while Ryan Moore, who is one win behind him in the all-time list at the royal meeting after a treble on Tuesday, has a full book of seven rides, including Luxembourg, the favourite, in the big one.

The all-important ground, meanwhile, is currently riding good on the straight course and good, good-to-soft in place on the round. It was a dry night and the forecast is for a possible shower or two during the afternoon, but nothing to be too concerned about.

Some thoughts on the seven races on today’s card are here, and the action is under way at 2.30pm with the Queen Mary Stakes – unless you include the royal procession at 2pm, of course. The Duke of Wellington, no less, popped up in the first carriage yesterday. Is there still a Lord Nelson somewhere who can be tracked down for day two?