Royal Ascot is now less than a month away, and keen punters will already be thoroughly scouring the horse racing betting sites in a bid to find the best odds for the iconic, five-day meeting’s biggest races.
There are eight Group 1 contests spread out throughout the week, with the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes headlining an action-packed second day card. There are certainly a number of exciting entries for the one-mile, two-furlong race.
So, without further, read on as we take look at the early favourites for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
Adayar
Adayar has been nothing short of underwhelming in his last couple of outings. The Charlie Appleby-trained horse set the world alight with a victory in the Epsom Derby from 16/1 last June and he followed that up with a second successive Group 1 victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in July — beating Mishriff by almost two lengths.
But the Godolphin-owned horse’s form has nose-dived since those two triumphs. Now a four-year-old, Adayar could fare no better than fourth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in September, and he was fifth in the Champion Stakes at Ascot the following month.
A son of the legendary Frankel, Adayar could make his reappearance in the Coronation Stakes at Epsom, a race he is backed to win in today’s horse racing tips, before heading to Ascot for the Prince of Wales’s and there’s no doubt Appleby will be hoping he’s back to winning ways by then!
Lord North
Just one point behind Adayar in the Group 1 contest’s ante-post market, John & Thady Gosden’s Lord North has spent the best part of the last couple of years racing outside of the United Kingdom — finishing fourth in the 2020 renewal of the Breeders’ Cup Turf before winning back-to-back Dubai Turfs in 2021 and 2022, the most recent of which was declared a dead-heat with Panthalassa.
The six-year-old did win the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes as a four-year-old in 2020 though, beating Addeybb by almost four lengths, and now six years of age, he’ll be hoping to roll back the years by regaining his title at Ascot — which would be a special victory for the horse’s connections after he nearly died last year.
Frankie Dettori confirmed that the one-mile, two-furlong race is the horse’s next target, and he’s a jockey who knows what it takes to win the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, having been victorious four times in the past.
Shahryar
Japanese-bred horses have had a real rise to prominence in the world of racing in recent years, with Deirdre winning Japan their first British Group 1 contest in 18 years in the 2019 renewal of the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, while Loves Only You breaking their duck at the Breeders’ Cup in 2021.
Japan’s maiden Royal Ascot victory is still in waiting though. But that could be about to change as the very exciting Shahryar, who has won four of his seven races under rules, is expected to make the long trip to Berkshire for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
The four-year-old beat Appleby’s 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Yibir by a neck in the Group 1 Sheema Classic in Meydan last time out and he’ll be a serious contender should he travel Ascot, this time hoping to take on another Godolphin horse in the form of Adayar.
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