Royal Ascot Day 1 Preview

Dark rain clouds drifting towards Ascot threaten to make this a very different Royal meeting to others in recent times. The ground is already on the soft side - but the exact amount of rainfall in the next 48 hours will determine the fate of so many horses this week.

Regardless of the state of the ground, the action on the racecourse - as well as that in the various enclosures at this very social occasion - will be as entertaining as ever. That is a certainty.

I can see Belardo starting the week off on a bright note for Godolphin in the opening G1 Queen Anne Stakes, over the straight mile. He loves 'cut' in the ground and should be in his element. As seen with his fine win in the G1 Lockinge last start, he is in cracking form, too.

Ervedya, winner of the G1 Coronation Stakes at the meeting last year, has class and certain prowess in the soft, and I prefer her as the danger, ahead of consistent American mare Tepin, who won her last six starts on the trot.

The two-year-olds make for fascinating races this week. The G2 Coventry Stakes is typical, posing so many questions, with very little convincing evidence available.

I liked the win of Van Der Decken in a six-furlong Curragh maiden on soft going last month and I can see this colt taking a hand in the finish, though unbeaten Caravaggio has solid form and the York winner Broken Stones has obvious ability.

Profitable and Mecca's Angel are old rivals, who finished in that order in the G2 Temple Stakes at Haydock last month, and I expect a repeat of that result in the G1 King's Stand Stakes. Last year's winner, Goldream, is likely to be tested in this ground.

The G1 St James's Palace Stakes could well be one of the best races all week, with three Guineas winners, from England, Ireland and France squaring up to each other, and the former crack two-year-old Emotionless resuming after a 248-day absence.

Awtaad impressed the way he went about winning the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh, and I expect him to be the one they all have to beat. He is a winner at Listed level in soft ground.

The Ascot Stakes, over two and a half miles, will be an exacting stamina test but the Charlie Appleby-trained, Godolphin-owned Galizzi gets in near the bottom of the handicap (with a 3lb penalty) and he can make his presence felt.

In the finale, the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes, Godolphin have a strong hand with Kananee and Drafted, who are both unbeaten, but the juvenile to fear is Irish-trained Mister Trader.