Royal Ascot Day 1 recap: Docklands upsets the Queen Anne

Longshots surprised in the two Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series qualifiers on Tuesday’s opening-day card at Royal Ascot in England, while favorites starred in the day’s other two group stakes.

Queen Anne (G1)

A 10-horse field faced the starter in the one-mile Queen Anne, the annual kickoff race at Royal Ascot and a stepping stone to the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1). Rosallion, winner of the 2024 St. James’s Palace (G1) at Royal Ascot, started as the 9-5 favorite in the World Pool. But it was the unheralded 13-1 longshot Docklands who delivered an upset victory.

A five-year-old son of Massaat, Docklands, entered the Queen Anne off a third-place finish in the Diomed (G3) at Epsom. However, he’d shown fine form at Ascot in the past, finishing second in the 2024 Queen Anne.

Docklands went one better in his return to Royal Ascot. Under jockey Mark Zahra, the Harry Eustace trainee broke slowly and rated off the pace before launching a rally. Zahra dropped his whip with a furlong remaining, but it didn’t make a difference as Docklands forged to the front and held off a bid from Rosallion to prevail by a nose.

“It was a very slow speed, and I just crept as much as I could. I got room at the right time and Docklands burst through and kept responding, kept responding,” said Zahra. “Amazing, what an amazing feeling. Unbelievable. I have to thank the boys that put me on him. One of the top days of my career for sure.”

The winning time over good-to-firm turf on the straight course was 1:41.39. Cairo, Notable Speech, Lake Forest, Carl Spackler, Lead Artist, Dancing Gemini, Diego Velazquez, and Quddwah completed the order of finish. Sardinian Warrior scratched.

“I have lost my voice, I am afraid; that was pretty sweet,” said Eustace. “It was tough watching, and the photo was tough. I wasn't happy with the pace early on; Docklands did his usual thing, just stepped slow, and I was cursing him to be honest, but he is just an absolute star.

“He has been an absolute legend for us and, if ever there was a track where you'd want a horse that's a specialist, it's here because it is the best racing.”

Coventry (G2)

The second race of the day was the Coventry, a six-furlong dash for juveniles. Gstaad, a Coolmore color-bearer trained by Aidan O’Brien, started as the 7-2 favorite in the World Pool off a debut victory at Navan, and the son of Starspangledbanner brought his record to 2-for-2 on Tuesday.

Under the guidance of Ryan Moore, Gstaad took up residence in the middle of the near-side group in a 20-horse field. From there, he advanced steadily to dominate the proceedings, hitting the finish line clear by three lengths in 1:13.43.

“I am absolutely delighted,” said O’Brien. “Gstaad looks a very good horse, doesn’t he? We have always loved him. He had only had the one run, but he has always worked like a good horse.

“He is big, scopey, has a good stride and is very genuine; he goes with his head down and he has loads of speed. He looks like he will get further than six furlongs.”

Do Or Do Not finished best of the far-side runners in second place, followed by Coppull, Andab, Power Blue, Tadej, Raakeb, Bourbon Blues, Rock On Thunder, Warsaw, Postmodern, Shaatir, American Gulf, Super Soldier, Kolkata Knight, Gavoo, Military Code, Ballistic Missile, Bone Marra, and Underwriter. Tricky Tel scratched.

King Charles III (G1)

A Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) berth was up for grabs in the five-furlong King Charles III, and 10-1 shot American Affair seized the prize in a determined performance.

Entering off a troubled fifth-place finish in the Temple (G2) at Haydock, the five-year-old gelded son of Washington DC enjoyed an unencumbered run at Royal Ascot. The Jim Goldie trainee rated in midpack beneath Paul Mulrennan before kicking on inside the final furlong to edge Frost at Dawn by a neck in :59.64.

“It all went pretty smooth, I got a lovely tow along there,” said Mulrennan. “We just tweaked a couple of things today—we put a hood on him. The last day, nothing went right at Haydock. Jim has always had a lot of faith in American Affair, and he is a good horse.”

"American Affair is just getting faster,” said Goldie, who was scoring his first win at Royal Ascot. “We went seven furlongs at Wetherby in his maiden, but we've learnt to run him over the right trip. We took him back to five, and he is just getting better and better.

"I was quite confident he could do it today. He has the talent. I knew he was probably one of the fastest horses in the race, but it's how you control that. We've come down a day early, got him relaxed, and it all fell into place. It means a lot.”

Regional took third place over reigning Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Starlust, followed by Kerdos, Asfoora, Washington Heights, Monteille, Balmoral Lady, Jasour, favored Believing, Night Raider, West Acre, Rumstar, Estepona, Aesterius, Tropical Storm, Twilight Calls, Prime Art, and Manaccan. Temple winner Mgheera, Bucanero Fuerte, and No Half Measures scratched.

St. James’s Palace (G1)

The group stakes action on opening day wrapped up with the St. James’s Palace, a prestigious prize for three-year-olds racing one mile over the round course.

In a rematch between 2000 Guineas (G1) 1-2 finishes Ruling Court and Field of Gold, it was the latter who proved victorious, turning the tables on his Newmarket conqueror.

Field of Gold started as the overwhelming 3-5 favorite off a 3 3/4-length triumph in the Irish 2,000 Guineas (G1). For Ruling Court, the St. James’s Palace was Plan B after scratching from the June 7 Epsom Derby (G1) due to wet ground.

Bettors sided with the right runner at Royal Ascot as Field of Gold delivered a stunning performance. Jockey Colin Keane allowed the Juddmonte-owned son of Kingman to rate off the pace before charging to the lead with a quarter-mile remaining. From there, the race was over, as the John and Thady Gosden trainee stayed on with authority to defeat 2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) winner Henri Matisse by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:38.41.

“That was a great performance,” said John Gosden. “…Colin had a lot of horse and, for a second, I thought, ‘Whoops, this is Ascot—it climbs all the way to the finish line, and we’ve gone a bit soon’. I didn’t watch him, I looked back – you always have to look back for the dangers, and fortunately, none was coming.”

Ruling Court settled for third place in a strung-out field, followed by Rashabar, Officer, Windlord, and First Wave.

The action-packed Royal Ascot meet continues on Wednesday with four more group stakes, including the Prince of Wales’s (G1), a “Win and You’re In” qualifier to the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1).